Hocuspocusville

Is anyone else out there doing the Hocuspocusville quilt? I know Vickie and Robin are, and actually after I saw Vickie working on her embroidery blocks back in May I decided that I had to do that quilt. It is of course another Crabapple Hill pattern and I'm obsessed with their stuff so I the minute my pattern and fabric arrived on Wednesday I immediately traced it. I wasn't going to start working on it right away because I'm already doing their Berry Pickin project but I said to myself on Thursday while I was waiting for family to arrive "just a few stitches to see how it looks".....well, a few turned into a LOT of stitches that night. I couldn't help myself, once I picked up the needle and floss and started I kept at it until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. Since I'm not involved in anything major right now at the machine I decided to make up the 9 patch blocks that make up the center of the quilt. The shop I'm doing this with supplied the fabric for everything plus black floss and they even sent along a brown pigma pen to trace it all.

I am taking this project to work with me and only working on it at lunch and break time so I can focus on my other project at home.

Peggy

Aye Carumba

I've been busy working on this flannel quilt this week (when I can keep my eyes open) so I haven't read blogs nor have I posted. I'm almost ready to send it out for quilting but first I have to get the final border on. It's a beautiful rust floral and if I get off this computer tonight early I will start connecting it so I can mail it on Saturday. It's a very simple Thimbleberries pattern that worked up super fast, which is exactly what I was looking for last weekend...

So, how many of you out there do block of the month's with your favorite shops? I like to do them with the shop in town but when I don't have one going with them I like to do the ones that Main Street Cotton Shop offers. This year I was doing 3 with them...I know, I know OVERKILL. But, I couldn't just pass any one of the 3 up. I was expecting that BOM this week but when it didn't come Tuesday I said, "ok, it will come Wednesday"....well, I was getting ready to go out when I saw UPS stop out front. My man in brown did NOT bring my customary white tyvek bag up from Main Street so I was a little disappointed...I wanted my BOM's dammit!!! So, I went out and brought in the boxes which all had hubby's name on them EXCEPT for the bottom big box that had my name on it.... OMG, a BOX from Main Street... I was so excited!!! The November projects were bigger than the others this year so I was blessed with a BOX O Fabric!!!YEE HAW!!! I now have "Winter Stars" quilt kit with backing, The Welcome to the Table Club is called "Christmas Flower Square" table topper with a thank you for joining which is a Twice the Charm roll, and one of the quarterly club kits called " Christmas Brick Walk" and backing fabric, which is a big ornament print and you add bricks around it with 2 borders. The new Thimbleberries fabrics are just wonderful so that might be the next project I start this weekend... Now to find some time to get all of these blocks of the month done....

I have also done some sewing on a project for a Christmas exchange with my Backporch Friends online group but I can't show you yet what I made 'cause Christie might just peek and I don't want the surprise to be ruined. I have to mail it by December 3rd so once it's mailed and I'm sure Christie has it in her hot little hands then I'll post a picture... In the meantime, how's everyone doing?

PEGGY

FUN FABRIC

I've been on a search for "fun fabric" to make some chinese coins kiddie quilts. I like to have little quilts on hand in case I need one fast and don't have time to do them. I made one earlier in the year for my daughter's godchild and used up almost everything I had in the kiddie stash so now I have to stash build again. I found these Heather Ross fabrics online last week and ordered them and was quite surprised at how fast they came. I am obsessed with VW busses/cars and gnomes so to find them was a great thing. I also got an unused pajama sleeve with these cute fish in bags like you find at a carnival. LOVE THEM!!! The other fabrics on top are Heather Ross's new line that has Octopus, fish and mermaids...VERY CUTE!!!

Anyone out there have some kiddie fabric they'd like to swap for Thimbleberries, 30's, $$$ or something else?

Are they cute or what?

I was in Florida this week visiting my mother. My nephew, his wife and 2 kids live right across the street and were over visiting the entire time. Little Steven just turned 3 and Matthew will be 1 on December 18th....they are just the cutest kids ever!!!

My daughter Jennifer came for the trip with us and totally enjoyed playing with the boys....I kept reminding her I "NEED" to be a grandmother now but i'm rethinking that "now" business since I was absolutely exhausted after they left at night. I did NOT remember how much work it is keeping up with little hands touching and little ones learning to walk on top of all the questions 3 year olds ask.... Mom has your typical lanai off the back of the house which we totally enjoyed being in. OOPS...hubby's not gonna be happy seeing his picture in the background...... :) Sorry Al. I think it was over 90 each day, which is a big difference from here in NJ today, which is only 48...but I will take the chilly weather over all that heat and having to sit in the AC. I had enough of that this summer, I'm ready for snow.

1 Down, a LOT more to go

I have 1 Christmas present done but a lot more to go...I'm just happy with one for now especially since it's only the 6th of November. I started this quilt about a month or so ago and was thinking as I was making it that I'd never done one for my BIL in Florida and he did ask a long time ago but I just didn't know what to make. So I thought when hubby came home from his visit with his brother that I'd ask him if he thought this was manly enough and did he want me to finish it and I could send it to him for Christmas. WELL....hubby came home and said to me "hey, my brother asked what I thought you were doing while we were visiting and I said sewing. He reminded me that he'd never gotten a quilt from you and could I talk to you about making him one to throw over his leather couch". I whipped the quilt out and said "great minds think alike...I made this while you were away". He really liked the colors and since his brother is a big fan of RED it will work wonderful. So, I had it quilted and finished the binding last night so now it's ready for the holidays. OH...and by the way, if you enlarge the picture I think you can see the quilting....my friend Sandi quilted it with musical notes all over it! My BIL is big into music and performs in community theatre in Florida so I think the quilting just jazzes the whole thing up.