Right Eye

circa 1984

Greetings all!! I'm still recovering from the cataract surgery and doing a bit more spring cleaning. I ran across this photo of my teaching years in Teague, TX. Those were great years and I made some wonderful friends.

This apron was one of the give-aways.

The other weekend I was busy at our local community center with our 2nd Annual Little Taste of Butler.  The food was fantastic and everyone really enjoyed themselves.  One of these days I'll get back to sewing but at the moment I'm having a blast with life in general.  Hope your "spring" is going well.

How I Spent My Tuesday; A Winner & Another Give Away

Mr. Cowboy decided he needed some blades for cutting hay. He ask if I wanted to tag along. Not thinking clearly, I said, "Sure, why not." Several hours later...& several stops later...sigh. Of course I forgot my Kindle and any hand work I could have done but Mr. Cowboy kept me in stitches so all was not lost.

Next, I went with Mr. Cowboy's suggestion to add the tree. He loves trees & he was so excited to help.

Now for the most exciting part, Mr. Cowboy pulled the name for the FQ..& the winner is  A Left-handed Quilter. Congratulations to you.

If you've made it this far on this post, I'm giving away another FQ, you can see it below. Isn't it pretty? All you need to do is leave a comment to participate. Good luck!! 

 

Another FQ give away!!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo & A Mini

Hi everyone! Well I'm back at it. Here's the latest mini. A giraffe in love with his next meal. This measures 9" by 13 1/2".

Here's a close up of the giraffe eyeing the leaves.

 

My cousin Clark has a beautiful blooming tree in his front yard and I just had to snap a couple of photos which doesn't do the tree justice at all.

 

And then I've decided to do a FQ give away. Isn't this fabric so pretty. Just leave a comment to be counted in the give away and I'll have Mr. Cowboy do a drawing next week. He just loves that process.....hehehehehe!!

Celebration Part 6

Warning, this post is photo heavy!!!

I've chosen a close up of an eagle.

 

I enlarged it & outlined the parts I want to really stand out. Next I'll choose some fabrics to make the magic happen.

These are just some of the fabrics that will be used in this endeavor.

The eyes are looking good.

I've gotten the beak in place & need to stitch around the parts before I can stitch everything together.

Here's a close-up of the eagle's face. I've used crayons & markers to highlite the feathers & will use threads to further add to the coloring when I quilt the piece.

Little Firecracker is all kicked back playing some sort of video game. I don't know how her parents got her to sit still for any period of time!

Oh, I nearly forgot about the winner of the fat quarter. It's Vicki H. Congratulations to you. Her favorite color is orange.

Please leave a comment to participate in the give-away. I do believe that the next post will be #1600. Oh boy I can't wait!!!

Celebration Part 5

Onward!
Someone asked about the design I used in a previous post. I'm freely sharing it today. It's mostly half-square triangles with a few, what I call, blank squares added. You can use any size HST.

This Fractured Star design is perfect for the eagle I have in mind. The design for the Fractured Star, which I've used many times, you can probably find if you do a Search of tutorials on my Sidebar.
Just wait until you see the eagle I'll be using. It's perfect!!!!

Here's sort of hawk in the hay field waiting for the balers to scare up a mouse, rabbit or snake. No need to soar overhead & wear out the old wings....laugh out loud! 

WINNERS!!!

I'm still waiting to hear from Needled Mom who won the last fat quarter. Her favorite color at the moment is yellow. Mr. Cowboy was anxious to pick the latest name from the old cowboy hat because he needed to get back to the hay fields to move those bales into storage. So the winner for a fat quarter this post is Gene! Congrats to Gene who has requested blue. 

Leave a comment to participate in the fat quarter give away. I think I have a couple more post before the 1600 mark.

Celebrate Countdown Part 3

Slept on what to do with this eagle. I added a light brown border then found some patriotic fabric in my stash to dress up the block. So far so good!!

However, my mind has gone in yet another direction. So that eagle is tabled for the moment. 

Here's the eagle I'm working on now.

The star design is one that I've use many times and is perfect for what I have in mind. I've use several shades of greens and golds on my HST and tone-on-tones.

I really like this eagle with its beak open. I've used permanent markers and crayons to highlight feathers and the bold brow on the eagle.

Here's the finished top measuring 54 inches square.
Next......

Magpie's Mumblings is the winner of the second FQ!! Congratulations to you. Blue and purple are her colors for now, so I'll be sending out the color BLUE to her as soon as we talk via email. I don't have much purple in my stash, if you can believe that.

Remember to leave a comment and mention your favorite color to participate in the give away. If you've already won a FQ, you can still win again.

Here's another pic of the little firecracker!!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Help Me Celebrate

Greetings Everyone!!

I was looking over my blog the other day and discovered that I'm 9 post shy of 1600 posts. OMG! I can't believe it. I've been blogging since 2007 & through many ups and downs in my farm-girl live, I've enjoyed every minute of getting to know many of my fellow bloggers.
So I decided to do a count down & some give-aways to build up to the number 1600.  I'm giving away a fat quart (the winner choses the color) each post until 1600. All you need to do to participate is to leave a comment and in said comment mention your favorite color starting with this post. I'll gladly send to my international friends as well.
Now, onto my next Veteran s quilt. 

I made this HST quilt last year & it just sat on a shelf collecting dust bunnies.

I'll be placing a close up of an eagle at the top. I really like it so far but I'll need to add more details.

Stay tuned for more FQ give aways toward my 1600 posts!

Finally, here's one of my grandbabies. I can't believe they were able to snap a photo with the hat still on her head. She's a firecracker!!!

My Right Foot

This little foot is my #1 stitching foot. It stays on my Janome so I have to make a conscience effort to remove it when I decide to do machine embroidery.

And, no, I'm still not sewing yet.

I was sitting around the house waiting for the guys to come in from the hay fields for lunch when I decided to clean my machine. I noticed all the "feet" I have for each machine (I have 3 at thie point) & thought about the one I use & love the most.

BTW, this foot did not come with any of my machines. I purchased it via Amazon!!

What's your favorite foot or most used foot? Let's talk feet!!

I'll come back with some updates about this post and your feedback as well. 

Since I'm stuck not sewing, I think I'll do a fat quarter give away from those who respond using a random number thingy or have Mr. Cowboy draw a name or two.

A Fresh Snow Blog Hop

Marian has come up with another great idea for a winter hop!!! And boy, did I stretch my comfort zone dearly. Thanks Marian, for inviting me to join in on the fun.
Here's the schedule for all participants:

January 20
Jane's Quilting
Lulu & Celeste
Quilt In Piece
3Patch Crafts

January 23
Quilted Fabric Art
Sew Many Yarns
Ravelly 1
Bdieges

January 24
Elm Street Quilts
Cloth & Paper Studio
Moose Stash Quilting
Any Pattern
Sea Coast Quilter

January 25
Life in the Scrapatch
Bumbleberry Stitches
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Seams To Be Sew

Now, back to my out of the box experience.

Since I'm into mini quilts these days, I decided to make the Buffalo Nickel as my project. I went online, found a clipart image, enlarged it 180% do that the finished mini will be around 12 to 15 inches square.

This is some type of upholstery fabric I've had for years with no real plans of using it.

Here's a close-up. I'm using it within the body of the buffalo.

Marian said to use something "not cotton" or along those lines. But what else to do with the project.

"Think, think, think girl," I said to myself.

As Mr. Gru in Despicable Me would say, "Lightbulb!"

I'll use a glass photo frame. Mr. Cowboy was puzzled about my decision but said little at this point.

Placing a background fabric inside the frame was a good start but I had to sleep on the next step.

Maybe I'd place the buffalo on the outside of the glass.....hummmmm!

That idea was scraped because the glass was too slippery (translation.....I didn't know what I was doing...LOL)

Mr. Cowboy suggested something red/white/blue.

What???

Hummmm...however crazy that was, it did get me to thinking in a new direction.

Okay, I've got glass, flux leather, batting for the horn of the buffalo. What else to use to make this happen?????

P a p e r????

Yes, that's it!!!

A lot of tiny cutting went on using my itty bitty scissors.

How to get all the pieces to stay in place??? Elmer's Glue will do the trick. This glue is from my life as a teacher. I'm surprised it hasn't dried up. I retired 10 years ago.

A close-up...things arte looking pretty good.

Another close-up....I'm liking this.

Finally done. Mr. Cowboy snapped the photo & called dibs for it to hang on his office wall.  We'll see!!!!

Now for a wonderful surprise......Marian has some great give aways. Make sure you pop over to her BLOG to participate.

Again, to Marian, thank you so much for the invite!!!