What A Christmas This Is!

Wow! It's all ready been an absolutely amazing Christmas for me! The kids got me the WII to begin with and my brother gave me a Pfaff Quilting Machine and Frame! I'm so excited, I'm just climbing the walls. lol We're doing a lot of rearranging and hauling off in the garage so we can put the frame up out there. In the meantime, I have the machine in the house and will play with it for a while. It's going to be after Christmas before we have the garage cleared to set up the frame, which is ok. I can't wait to get started! I can't post any pictures right now because my computer hook up is goofy and I can't connect the camera to it. Maybe I'll have that fixed in time to take pic's of the set up as we go along:)
Hope everyone has a very very Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!

Almost Ready For Christmas

I can't believe it but this is the first year that I'm actually going to be ready for Christmas early! I have quite a few gifts all ready wrapped, some others that are due in the mail within the next few days and I have one lap quilt I'm working on for my neighbor to complete. We got the house decorated this past week end and Bert is putting up the outdoor lights as I write this right now. We do have the yard to complete, with the snowman, reindeer, sled, train, etc. all the goodies that make the yard so fun and neat. We're a couple of big kids at heart and this is our favorite time of year. It's a lot of work getting it ready and we're a little late outdoors this year, but better late than never. (Bert got called for Jury Duty, so between that and his part time job he's been on the go!) I hope everyone is getting accomplished what they hope to and not stressing over it. I think that's why it's gone so well this year, I decided early on, no stressing no matter what. It's just not worth it and that's not what it's all about. We have a tendency to forget that in the process sometimes:(

Teapots with Cozies and Cozies

Here's a three of the Teapots with Cozy, as well as one of the Teapot Cozies I just got listed on my Etsy. I've had them ready to go on there for several days but have had trouble downloading any pic's on Etsy and on my blog. Go take a look there's 7 teapots with matching cozies and 3 cozies.

Samantha's Birthday Quilt

Yesterday was my granddaughter's 14th birthday and my 62nd:) We usually go out to dinner, just the two of us but this year she's sick so we didn't make it. We did however go out on Fri. night with the family and had a great time:) This is her quilt that she hasn't been given yet. She got up yesterday morning not feeling good and got worse as the day wore on. So we'll go over today and take her gifts to her and I hope she's feeling lots better than she was.

New Items Added to Etsy

I just added 7 Pincushion Sewing Bags to my Etsy but only showing a picture of one here. This is what I will be giving away on the "Pay It Forward" since winning the lovely pin holder from Jill. There are 5 different prints available and they each have their own mini needlecase, and happen to be one of the handiest items I own! I love mine, I even keep my magnifying glasses in it. So even though it looks small it holds a LOT.

Lap Quilt for Jeanette

I have a very dear and old friend of 54 years that has been in the hospital now for over 3 months! She went in for a simple hysterectomy and one infection lead to another, three blood clots later she might go home next week. I've been working on this lap quilt for her and anxious to go down to the San Francisco area to deliver it to her:)

Beautiful Pinkeeper from Jill and GC from my Secret Pal!

Isn't this just beautiful!!! I was the winner of Jill Phillip's Pay It Forward and won this gorgeous Pinkeeper. She also sent some lovely bridal lace and some adorable charms! I was so excited. This has been a day and a half for me. I received an early Birthday present from my Secret Pal and it was a Gift Certificate from Vintage Vogue! What another surprise that was. I ordered the A-Z Embroidery Book 2 and will post it when it gets here. What a day! Thank you both for making my day so amazing!
hugz:)
Candi

Annette Jeavons Postcard

Kathy Tollefson Postcard

In Stitchin Fingers I belong to the Fabric Postcards Group and we're swapping Postcards. This one is for Kathy Tollefson, in MN and the next one goes to Annette Jeavons in UK. I hope you like them ladies:)

New CD's My Hubby Bought Me

I have to tell you, I lost everything on my computer a week or so ago and all I did for a while was whine about it. lol I think Bert felt a little sorry for me because he knew I wanted these CD's and he ordered them for me. I love them!!! They're great addition to the one's I have. Now I can get crazy making silkies for my Etsy! lol

Fall, Halloween and Christmas Silkies

Hi all:) I just posted some new Fall, Halloween and Christmas (snowmen, tree's, Santa's and scene's) on my Etsy I'll be adding some Edwardian Ladies and some Vintage Ladies in the next day or so. I don't know about you, but I'm in the process of trying to get as many Christmas projects finished in the next two months that I can. As well as the one's I have yet to start!! lol

Check out this fun giveaway from Retro Cafe!

Retro Cafe is offering this digitalsheet giveaway and it is really cute. Go check it out!!

Horse Quilt

Hi all:) Well, I took pictures of my horse quilt so I could show you how beautiful the quilting done by Gail is. Unfortunately when I tried to download the pic's from my camera, it wouldn't work:( So I've recharged the battery and will be taking more pic's tomorrow and I'll be sure to post the pictures then. The quilting is just beautifu it looks like lasoo's (SP?) all over the quilt:)

New Charms Added to Etsy

I've just added some new charms to my Etsy and there are some really cute ones for your blocks. Go check them out. Here's a sample.

New Ribbons Added to Etsy

I just added some new ribbons to my Etsy and I just love the colors! The Forest Green almost has a blue hue to it and the English Moss is like a soft gold/brown. All of them are mottled and I love that ook. Soooo pretty. I can't wait to work with these. I'll be doing more this week sometime. Stop by and check them out.

My New Pincushion Bags

I just got my newest additions added to my Etsy. They're about 6X6 inch Pincushion Bags.:) The bag opens up and sewn into the bottom of the bag is a pincushion and along the inside of the bag are small pockets where you can store your thread, thimble, etc. It also comes with a matching needlecase. I absolutely love mine. I'm finding it to be one of the most useful tools I have. Check them out:)

New Ribbons On Etsy

I just put up quite a few new hand dyed ribbons on my Etsy the other day. There's I believe around 15 that I added, so check out my Etsy

Got the top done

Whoo hoooo I finally got the horse quilt top done yesterday. I still don't understand why I haven't wanted to work on this one. lol It's not difficult or anything?? Oh well, now to get the back done for it and send it off to Gail:)

Fabric Postcard Kits

Here are the pic's of those I have on my Etsy that I've done up. Of course you can do them any way you'd like:) The kit is complete with everything you need to make a postcard, from the muslin to do the cq'ing on to the pre-printed postcard backing. They're fun and not at all difficult. So check them out at my etsy :) They're too much fun:) Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, in some of the kits are the Sassa Lynne threads, that are absolutely awesome. Susan carries them over on Desert Sky and if you haven't tried them yet, you're missing out. Say Hi to Susan when you go:)

Did you ever have one you just didn't want to work on??

Have you ever had something you HAD to do but just couldn't get yourself into the mood to do it now matter how hard you try??? That's what this one is for me. It took forever to find the right horse fabric to start, then it took another forever to find fabric's that would even come close to matching the colors of the horses. The yellow looking strips I'm not happy with but they'll work in the long run. So now I need to get back to it and quit complaining! lol

What A Wonderful Surprise!!

Karrin Hurd that I'm on a few groups together with, also happens to live about 3 blocks from me. Karrin and I try to go to lunch once in a while and get together to do some stitching. Yesterday we went to lunch and she surprised me with this beautiful package of pink goodies. The earrings that came in it to use on CQ are just gorgeous! There's two different ribbons with pink and green, the beautiful embroidered hanky with the all that lovely variegated trim! Also some green shell buttons and some pink ones. They're going to be fun to work with to make a flower on my next CQ. Thank you Karrin, I absolutely love them all!:)

6 Part Color Wheel

Whooo hoooo I got my 6 Part Color Wheel, that's due next month, done over the week end. Feels good to be ahead of the game for a change and not playing catch up with everything. lol Now I can get back to work on my stitches:)

I belong to a fabric dyeing group called Dye Hard Run Off and I'm having so much fun learning how to dye fabric's. This is the Make Orange run and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I expected everything to come out a bright orange or something, but they're not. They gradually turn to that awesome orange shade and of course the first (red) and last (golden yellow) are the pure colors. It just amazes me at the way things come out. Having to wait for them to batch is like pulling teeth! lol I feel like a kid in a candy store, I can't decide what color to try next! lol There are so many shades to try that I know I'll use. I'm doing some to sell on my Etsy Colors that are more frequently used. Especially with summer coming folks will be starting on their holiday items. Gifts etc.! I know I've started all ready (I tend to be snail like so need a good head start. lol)

Susan's Block

This is Susan Nixon's block from a RR group we belong to. Everyone has done such gorgeous work on it and I know she's going to love it.:)

New Racks In The Sewing Room

My brother gave me some new racks so I put them to good use in my sewing room. Whooo hooo I'm so excited! For the most part it's all organized now. I want to get some more baskets and then seperate the fabric's by size as well as color (as they are now.) This isn't the whole room, I don't remember if I took a pic of the closet with all the containers of CQ fabric's or not. I've talked poor Susan's head off through out this whole process. We had to take that room completely apart a couple of times in order to get the racks in there. I HOPE I'm basically done with all of that though. lol Knowing me I'll find another reason to re-organize! I'm sooooo OC! lol

testing for bouncing

testing 1 2 3 :)

First Amaryllis in Bloom:)

My favorite plants are beginning to bloom now. The Amaryllis on my back patio. I have two huge pots of them. This one is the younger of the two, I've only had it for about 3 years and it's blooming firt. My other one has gotten quite old, I think:) lol It belonged to my sister for I believer 12 or 13 years, she in turn gave it to our mother because it wouldn't bloom for her. (She lives up in the mountains). I believe mother had it for almost that long and since Mom passed I've had it which has been 6 years. Maybe my sister will read this and post so we'll know for sure. OR I could email her. . . what a concept! lol They're sooooooooooo gorgeous in bloom though. The others should all be out in the next week or two. I'll post a picture of the grandma Amaryllis when it blooms. One year the blooms were actually almost 12inches across! The were huge!!

Victoria Rose Cottage

I've been working on getting a license from Victoria Rose Cottage to reprint their roses on silkies to sell on my Etsy. Well I now have the express written permission of Victoria Rose Graphics to do so!!! Whooo hooo!!! I can't wait. They have some of the most incredibly gorgeous roses I've ever seen. You'll soon see them on my Etsy along with lots of other new goodies. Hand dyed ribbon, hand dyed fabrics (slowly, lol) and the beautiful beautiful silkies:)

Ati Opened Her Etsy Shop Today!

My good friend Ati from Norway has opened her Etsy Shop today. She has just begun to put her items up but her first one there is a beautiful, beautiful wool postcard. Ati does absolutely gorgeous work so go check out her Etsy and enjoy!:)

Wonderful Gifts From Gail!!

A few days ago I received a surprise package in the mail from Gail Odegaard, and what a surprise it was! She gifted me her tag that she made in one of our other groups and it's gorgeous!!! The picture does not do the work on the tag justice. It now has a special place on the picture frame of my mothers poem "Quilts and Friends". Along with the Tag she sent me a Dream Pillow filled with lavender! I've been going to make one for quite a while but just hadn't gone out to biu the lavender so you know how welcome the Dream Pillow is:) It's supposed to help you have restful sleep and pleasant dreams. So far so good, it's working:) Gail thank you soooooooo very very much. You're such a dear friend.

New Block

A new quilt is in the process and this is the first complete block. One of many to go. lol

Wacky Quilt

Just finished this wacky quilt top and I'm trying to decide what color border to put on it. I forgot I had all these 4" squares tucked away so I pulled them out and went to work. This one is not quite a twin and I still have enough of the fabric pieces left to make a baby quilt for the Linus Project. whoopee:)

Had Some Fun With These Fabric's

These are some fabrics that I dyed a while back and was very unhappy with the way they came out. So I tried my hand at overdyeing them and this time I'm tickled with the outcome:) I'll most definitely use these:)