New Years

2010 is coming to a close so I wanted to wish all my blogging friends, family, and anyone else out there "Happy New Years" and all the best to you and yours in 2011!!!!

Pinwheel Project

Back in November, in the Winter 2010-2011 Mc Call's Quilting Magazine I found this quilt and I KNEW I had to do it. The quilt finishes up to approximately 79 x 96 and you need 314 4 inch pinwheels....Yes, you read that right 314 pinwheels!!I have a cabinet of Thimbleberries fabrics and a drawer of 3 inch squares in all different colors, not just brown. So, I decided that I'd mix mine up but still use neutrals with them. I started with some blue fabrics and then the holidays hit. I had shopping and some small holiday projects to do so I never got back to doing anything with the project until yesterday.

I know there are a lot of ways to make the half square triangles for the pinwheels, one of which "triangulations papers" works well as per Michelle, but with them you still have to rip the paper off. My method you have to draw the lines, sew and then trim. I guess no matter how you do it, there's a lot

of work to these guys.

My real goal in doing this quilt is to use up as much of the fabric in the cabinet and drawer!

What do you think....think I can make a dent???? I guess we will see when I finish the project!!!

Darn Blogger

First off, I want to start this post with stating that I've attempted to post about this project 2 times only to have BLOGGER post an error message and shut me out! I am not happy with Blogger today!!!!

I have another ongoing issue with Blogger.....why can't my pictures be uploaded in a post to the exact spot where my curser stops typing? I don't get it. Does anyone else have these issues?

Wooly Pincushion Swap

Some girls I go to retreat with every May are doing a "wool crazy" pincushion swap. We are doing the swap 4 girls to a group, 2 groups. We're starting in January and when we meet in May we will get our pincushions back from the last girl that worked on it. I'm excited to see what I'll get back on mine after they see what I've started with. I have a sunflower on mine since it's my favorite flower and I'm thinking they'll add crows, birdhouses, butterflies, watering cans etc.....

Here's my first attempt at working with wool......

Here's a link to my friend Laura's blog with her pincushion top on it....ain't her rabbit cute?

http://leftatthestoplight.blogspot.com/

PS: This is starting out as 8 inches round.

New Light

I thought I'd share a picture of a lamp with a magnifying window for us ahem "over 50's" that want to still do embroidery but are having a little trouble seeing the lines on our pieces. My son gave me this for Christmas and lemme tell you....it's good!!! Can you see the little flip up door?

You don't have to use it but this here girl will!

Here's a link to the shop where it was purchased for anyone that want to know:

http://www.shoptablelamps.com/tl37981.htm

YAY for Snow

Yes, we got us some SNOW yesterday. Official count is 22 inches!!! This picture on the left is my back deck from the family room.

The other picture is my front yard. My son and husband have been out 3 times just trying to get a start on clearing.

Of course, my attitude on all this on 12/26 is "why couldn't it have waited 1 more week?" Why you ask? Well, I'm already off work this week since school is closed. If this was next week I'd get another week off!!!!

New Mini BOM

I saw this Patchabilities BOM back about 3 months ago but didn't do anything about it. I caved though last week and signed up with Quilting Possibilities, my local shop. I am so happy I did too.

Each mini finishes up to 12 x 14 and is doable in about 2 hours. I got it bound, the hanging sleeve made and the binding on tonight after dinner and then assembled the stand. It's really cute and I think makes a nice addition to my other seasonal minis that I have around the house. What do you think? AND, included with the price of the fabric is a different header (mittens) each month to match the banner.

So, did everyone get some quilting goodies for Christmas?

I got some gift cards to Quilting Possibilities, a new rotary cutter and some money from mom in Florida to use on whatever I want. It will most likely go towards fabric!!!

Do you like a giveaway?

Here's a great giveaway for all you gals that like fabric and especially fabric giveaways... And, a little hint...........

http://www.dawnsquiltcorner.com/2010/12/happy-new-year-fabric-giveaway.html

Merry Christmas

Well, it's finally here!!! I feel like I've been preparing for months for Christmas and it has finally arrived!!!!

The presents are wrapped, hubby's out getting last minute fresh stuff for dinner tomorrow and the house is clean. The 2 youngest are home, Jen and Tim will be here in the morning from Maryland, all's right with the world.

Wishing all of you blogging friends a Merry Merry Christmas ! Safe travels if you are leaving the house and i'll see you Sunday or Monday....

Peggy

January Mini

I know it's not January yet but I worked on my mini today and believe it or not, it's buttonhole stitched,quilted, bound and ready to hang on the wall. Each kit comes with a special hanger and the theme matches the season. I had a couple of questions about this one, specifically "what's the brown stick?" Well, it's supposed to be a coat rack with a scarf hanging off it.....

Wish me luck keeping up with these!!! I've got the last 4 done, only 8 more to go :)

Is everyone ready for Christmas?

I think I am....I have the presents, they're just not wrapped, I have the baking supplies, the stuff just hasn't been baked, but I have a plan....and ya know what? It will either come together or it won't, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it!!!

Early Birthday Presents

I gotta say that I think I have the best quilting sisters ever!!! Saturday afternoon the mail girl rang the doorbell and handed me a box with this inside. Not only did Michelle send me a Patchabilities pattern, she sent the project all made up and a small wire hanger for the wall with it. She also sent a red and white polka dot spoon rest that she filled with my favorite Butterfinger bars and a charm pack of "Punctuation" by American Jane fabrics.

Then, today, I'm in my room sewing and the doorbell rings again....this time there's a box from Robin...

Inside her box is a pink and purple polka dot bathrobe, a note pad, an easy angle ruler and a little wool/fabric snowman kit wall hanging.

My BFF's know me so well....

Thank you for the early birthday wishes....

Peg

Star Quilt

I entered a quilt into the Quilting Gallery Quilt Contest. :) This week's theme is Star Quilts. This is the quilt that I entered.

http://quiltinggallery.com/tag/weekly-themed-quilt-contest/

I wasn't going to ask for some votes but I thought to myself, "what de heck", this is a beautiful quilt and it took me a long time to make it!!! So, if you don't mind, would you go on over and vote for my "30's Quilt"?

Peggy

PS: Thank you to everyone that voted for me....unfortunately, someone had over 350 votes which is a HUGE amount!!!

Patchabilities Minis

Two summers ago I found some Patch Abilities mini's online that I just had to have, well upon careful internet searching I found them as a block of the month! How lucky was I? I was so jazzed that the minute the first one came I did it up and it is still up in my sewing room. It's a hot air balloon. Well, 2008 came and went and every month the kits came and were immediately put in a basket with the previous months, never to be seen again...You say you're shocked? Oh please, that was the summer I signed up for every block of the month that came down the pike...and none of them got finished. Last week however I decided that I NEEDED this little tree done to hang in my front hallway so out it came and here it is, less than 6 days later and it's finished and hanging on the wall. Can you see the cute hanger? And look at the ends of the branches...cute little plastic bulbs!!!

Now, I see how quick and easy it was and ask myself WHY???? Why did it take over a year to finish? One of the mysteries of all time...guess we'll just have to speculate and move on and say "YAY PEG, you finished!"

Blue Lights Runner

I worked a little on some sewing yesterday and got a runner done for my mom for the holidays. I wasn't sure what type of colors she'd like so I went with fun and bright and came up with this simple but nice runner................I like the lights fabric and I hope she will too. She's requested a small tabletopper too for a side table in her dining room so I'll get to that today and get them in the mail so she can enjoy them the whole season.

It's back to work tomorrow :( I know, I know, it's a sad thought but i'm already trying to figure out how I can make it through the whole week without a day off LOL

Sneak Peek

Last post I showed you some scraps that I've been collecting and today I'm ready to shpeek at what I've been working on. This is 2 rows of a scrap quilt that I'm going to call Red Pepper since that's the blog I found something like it on. The blocks with the small pieces have 100 2 inch squares in them and the other squares are 3.5 inches. I'm only working on this project in between things that need doing right away.

Scrap Management

I am by no means a "scrap quilt" type of person. I don't cut my scraps into manageable sizes, I don't arrange by color, I guess you could say I'm "scrap challenged".....but I was inspired a while back by a scrap quilt on a blog I like to frequent so I did a LOT of cutting up of kona snow and scraps into both 2 inch squares and 3.5 inch squares and I'm going to attempt to "use em up" this year. This is just a sampling of what I cut up the other night, the rest is already on it's way into a scrap quilt which hopefully be partly assembled before this weekend is over. The long strips that I have will go into string blocks and I may be working on some of those this weekend too....

Orange Crush

Well, I'm back quicker than I thought I would be.....Orange Crush is finished! I started cutting it 2 weekends ago, before I got sick. Last weekend I got the rows assembled so really, all I had to do today was connect the rows. I am not an orange lover but I sure had a lot in my stash!!!

My quilter Sandi is away visiting family till the beginning of December so I will get the back ready and boxed up to mail to her then. Once it's back I'll decide who the lucky recipient is.

I have a quick trip to Joanns planned for later this afternoon for some thread and supplies but then I'll be back doing more sewing :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their beautiful fall Saturday.

Peggy

My New Toy

Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas to me from hubby :)

Yes, it's early but heck, a girl's gotta take advantage of an opportunity when she can!!!

I've had a love/hate relationship with my 2002 Bernina Artista for quite a few years. When she's home set up in my sewing room she works like a charm, but when I travel to retreat with friends it always seems like Bernie has some traveling issues and then I sit and covet Lori (no blog) and Michelle 's Baby Lock Espire. So, I asked hubby if he'd consider getting me yet another machine and combine it with the 2 holidays, and since he was agreeable, off we went to my favorite quilt shop "Quilting Possibilities" and got the 2010 version of the Espire called "Symphony". Same machine, just more bells and whistles. I've been playing with it for a few days and am assembling my orange quilt today, and I have to tell you...it sews like a jem!!!! I absolutely love it!!! Only problem i'm having with this machine, which I always had with Bernie too is the darn automatic needle threader....never can master it!

Check back later today for a finished orange crush picture....

Litte Star Rack

I only bought one item yesterday at the craft show even though i'm kicking myself now for not buying the nice wrought iron star candle holder I saw but anyway, here is the wooden rack I bought. I am not quite sure how it will ultimately be used but for now I have a mini quilt in it with 2 of my raggedy's inside and another sitting up against it.

What a Day

What a day today was. Robin was here at 7am for our trek down to Delaware to visit Michelle.

She'd invited us down a few months ago to attend a craft show at the fairgrounds in Dover. So, we drove down, went to the craft show, lunch, and then back to the base to see where Michelle lives and does all her sewing. She has a lovely house, and she made us feel right at home. She has beautiful quilts and baskets all around and wonderful little pets that greeted us as well. This is a picture of "the three musketeers" just before we left for the drive home.

We had a wonderful time. Thanks Michelle for having us, next time you have to come to New Jersey and we'll visit a quilt shop too :)

A Road Trip

Yes, you read that correctly, i'm going on a road trip! Well, actually, this week i'll be on 2 road trips. Today I went to Baltimore to visit with my daughter and get my hair cut and colored. Yes, there are hair salons in New Jersey but they're just not Jen.....

My niece Shannon and I braved the torrential rain this morning to see her but it was well worth it. I no longer have grey roots and got a great haircut :) Jen and her boyfriend Tim took us out for lunch too...We had a wonderful meal at Della Rose's Tavern at Canton Crossing! If you are ever down in the Inner Harbor, it's a great place to view the harbor and get a great meal!!!

Now the second road trip involves Robin and Michelle. Robin and I are used to being road trip partners but this trip is 10 hours shorter than the trips we usually take. Robin is coming to my house Saturday morning and we're driving to see Michelle down at Dover Air Force Base. Michelle is taking us to a craft show, someplace for lunch and then I think we'll probably just go back to her house for some girl talk and i'm sure something to do with fabric....Oh Yeah, fabric!

I think though that I'll wait until we actually get together and then we'll share pictures :)

I'll just suffice it to say I cleaned out my sewing room bins last Sunday and I have approximately 6 grocery bags full of kits and fabric for the girls to go thru......

I'm sure they'll post about our visit on Sunday......

See you then!!!

Orange I'm Crazy?

I don't know what's gotten into me but all of a sudden I can't keep my darn hands off orange fabrics. I'm like an addict and orange is my vice. This is just a sampling of what I've bought in the last 2 weeks. Found some more in my cabinet while I was cleaning, still have the price stickers on from my local shop. I decided I'm cutting into them today so stay tuned and see what I'm working on.

"Christmas Street" Snowman Runner

While cleaning off a shelf in my sewing room this afternoon I came across a snowman runner that I started at retreat in May 2009. YES folks, 2009! Robin, Michelle and I each had a kit so we decided that we'd get a jump on the holiday season and it would be our first project to work on. Well, who knew that my sewing machine would stop working and I'd be forced to set the project aside and work on other hand projects. So, finding on the shelf today was a nice surprise. I finished the assembly and after dinner I put the green borders on so now it's ready to enjoy for 2010.

And just in case you were wondering, it's a Thimbleberries pattern and they're known for their HUGE runners. It measures 26 x 62!

Aunt Grace Circle of Friends

You might remember the post from last Saturday telling you I was doing the new Aunt Grace Circle of Friends BOM. Well, I made the decision that today was the day to git er done and get moving onto other projects. So, the blocks are done, pressed and now to find something else to do. Hmmmm....do I have anything here that needs doing?

I have also had a BIG week of fabric shopping. I know I've been promising myself not to shop but I'm just a fabricshopaholic...I cannot help myself at all. I'm not going to bore you with all the pictures but I do have to tell you that I won a blog contest over at Jaybird Quilts. Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works had donated a gorgeous orange and red fat quarter bundle of batiks and I was the lucky recipient. If you need some fabric, check out Jackie's site!!! Thank you so much Jaybird for picking my name from the hat!!!

Snow Days

I don't think I've posted about this yet but a couple of friends and I are doing the Crabapple Hill "Snow Days" pattern together. This is a picture of Blocks 1-3 with their alternating pieced blocks laid out . The bottom blocks are not connected to each other nor to the first row because i'm not sure that's where they go right now but they are made and ready to be assembled once all the embroidery blocks are done.

If you look closely you can see that once you do the embroidery you attach pieced blocks and then there is MORE embroidery to do on the pieced blocks as well. This pattern could be considered the "embroidery project that never ends" LOL

I have block #4 started but due to the condition of my left hand and my ability to grasp the embroidery hoop, I am a tad behind the other girls but I finally got the cast off on Tuesday so things should pick up soon.

The hand still hurts and it's still a little swollen and very stiff but i'm going to be working on getting it back to normal as quick as possible which included using the ruler and rotary cutter today to cut out 2 of the above blocks.

It's an absolutely gorgeous day here in NJ.....hope you are all enjoying this fall day !

Pity Party

Yeah, I've been having some pity parties for myself the last 5 weeks, I haven't been physically able to use a rotary cutter or machine to do any real sewing so I've spent way too much time navigating around the computer "looking" at fabric. But it's gotta stop....I'm running out of space in my cabinets for all this fabric!!! I saw these 2 half yard bundles of Riley Blake fabrics and just fell in love with them so I bought them. Fortunately for me, I already know what projects the fabrics will go to.

Then, today, I went to my local quilt shop, Quilting Possibilities, with the intention of only buying some stabilizer for a tote bag but of course you know I can't just walk in and walk out.....NO..I have to wander around and that means walking out a little lighter in the wallet :) Not only did I come out with some stabilizer, I got the navy and white snowflake fabric to make the tote bag with, a bolt end of a black and white print and 6 red/white/black fat quarters to use in a quilt with some black and white fabrics I already have here that are leftover from another project. I racked up a LOTTA fabric this week already....and the week's not over yet!!!

Aunt Grace Circle of Friends

I've been wanting to do something with 30's fabrics lately and when the opportunity came to do the Aunt Grace Circle of Friends BOM, I jumped at it. Today my first pattern, fabric and tote bag came.

Of course, cutting into the fabric will have to wait until at least Tuesday when I see the doctor and he x-rays this again.

Halloween Oreos

It's 4:00....Do you have a daily routine?

I leave work around 3:00 and after I get home and check the mailbox for packages, I change out of work clothes and throw on sweats and sneakers. THEN, I make a cup of tea and have a teeny tiny snack to hold me over till 6:00 when I have dinner.

Today's snack are Halloween Oreo's....They have to be the BEST snack ever. Have you tried them yet??? If not, stop, grab your car keys and get out to the store right now!!!

Good Mail Day

I'm home from work today getting ready for my trip to St. Thomas tomorrow morning....hubby and I actually

got the hotel free for doing a tour in Puerto Rico last year so this is kind of a freebie in my mind. We've made stops in St. Thomas on cruises in the past but never actually stayed there so this will be a nice holiday. It's really only a 5 dayer but it's sure nicer than being in NJ for 5 days

Got my tootsies and fingernails done, got my suitcase packed, and even have plastic bagsthat the newspaper comes in packed, to cover my arm since the cast is coming with me :( The doctor thought I was crazy yesterday thinking after 3 weeks I'd be thinking the cast was coming off....

He did promise me that he'd take it off on

the 19th so I have that to look forward to.

As I was sitting here checking email and blogs I saw the mail girl come up to the porch and put some packies outside the door so I went out and opened them....Yowzer!!! Good mail day for me!!!

I got 2 patterns from Robin, thanks Robin, I love Crabapple Hills stuff!

I got my Snow Days BOM kit, I'm also doing the Vintage Trick or Treat as a pretend BOM with some friends so I ord

ered the black/tan dot and the orange border fabrics from Nan, who is the BOM coordinator at the shop where I get the Snow Days BOM, and while driving Sarah back to college I was peeking thru the Hancock of Paducah catalog and had seed "Happy" by Jennifer Heynen in it.

I didn't order it back then but in browsing Etsy I'd seen a bundle

of it at a great price so I ordered that too... So, all in all, a GREAT mail day for me.

I'm also wondering if anyone out there in blogland has any of the Sand and Surf fabric in their stash from Michele D'Amour, that they'd like to sell or swap some fabric for? I've made 2 quilts from that line, both were for young brides this year and I still have a little left but not enough of a variety to really make much with. If you have any of this fabric and want to "make a deal", email me.

Peggy

Meadow Blocks Part 2

You might remember back in May I made a quilt from the "Meadow Blocks" pattern by Carlene Westberg, and of course I had to use the same fabrics she did.....I know, I know, I'm a copycat....

I loved the quilt after I got it back and bound it but over the summer our school psychologist and her husband had a fire in their house and they literally lost about everything they own. Well, about 2 weeks ago it dawned on me that she might be in need of a quilt since the nights were getting chilly so I brought 3 of the quilts I had laying around and let her pick one. She naturally picked the pink/girly top to take home and enjoy. So, I thought "what the heck" I had quite a bit of fabric left over from the first top so I pulled it out the other day and with my gimpy arm I

was able to cut it out and assemble it all. I finished it today and just took a picture of it......

And before you ask, yes, I even have the same backing fabric for this one that I used on the first one......

I really love this pattern, you only need 16 fat quarters, 3/4 of a yard for binding and backing, and it's very scrappy friendly as you can see from the above picture.

I'm sure you'll be seeing more quilts on my blog made from it.

So, is everyone enjoying the weather? It's 65 and gorgeous here in NJ!!!

Good Friends

Once again, I have to say I have the best friends....

Ya know how happy you are when you come home from work and find one of those big priority boxes on the front porch? Yeah, it's nice isn't it? Well, my friend Angela from Indiana sent me a "Get Well" pincushion. Lookit the size of that bad boy!!!!

I can't wait to start poking pins into it :)

Then today I got home and found a Facebook message from one of my friends from retreat....

I just have the best friends! :)

Vintage Trick or Treat

A group of my friends are doing this Crabapple Hill Co. pattern as a kind of an unofficial block of the month starting October 1st. We each bought the pattern and then went out and got different background fabrics and our floss.

It started out that Carolyn, Robin, Michelle and I were doing it, then Liz jumped on board, then we got Liz's sister Isabel to join in and just today one of the "polka dot girls" Vickie jumped on board too.

The Crabapple patterns are far from "easy"...but I think we are all up to the challenge!

I will be late starting mine since I am disabled at the moment but once this darn cast comes off I'm ready to start again because I have my project all traced and hooped ready to go........

Stay tuned, I'll be updating as we go along.

Do I Have Good Friends or What?

Are these beautiful or what? Robin and Michelle sent me the nicest flowers since i'm laid up for a few weeks. I love getting flowers, but I'd prefer to do without the broken arm!

Thank you to all my blogging friends for all your nice notes today....i really appreciate them.

Peggy

Quilting Break

No, its not what I want to do but I have no choice. You see, I fell and broke my left wrist last night so I am officially on the disabled list for 4-5 weeks.....

I will keep you updated on my progress grrrrrrr.......

Village Square

It didn't take any arm twisting on Robin and Michelle's end to get me to jump in with them on doing the Village Square Block of the Month with them, only difference is they are actually getting the kits from Homestead Hearth whereas I only ordered the pattern. I'm going to use pieces from my scrap basket and my Thimbleberries stash to make it up. I was kind of unsure as to whether I'd like the fabric that would come but I KNEW I liked what I had here so that was an easy solution.

I thought the BOM was starting September 1st and even though I didn't know which block they'd start with, I just looked thru the pattern and when I saw it called for 3 6.5 inch Variable Star blocks I decided that they would be what I started with. Here's a picture of the pattern

and my 3 blocks.

9-11

I can't start this post without mentioning September 11th....It's one of those days that will live in my mind forever. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing and I will never forget the people that were lost to that horriffic tragedy. I can honestly say I didn't lose a family member or anyone close, but my husband lost a childhood friend and one of the guys that works with him lost his wife and unborn baby so it did hit close to home.

Snow Days

Have you seen the Crabapple Hill pattern called Snow Days? A friend works at a quilt shop in Kansas and emailed a couple of us to see if we'd be interested in doing it as a block of the month. Me being a glutton for punishment jumped right in and signed up. Month 2 showed up in my mailbox this weekend while I was in Rhode Island dropping my youngest off at college so I figured while the sun is out today I might as well trace it. I realized as I pulled the pattern out that I'd never shown you a picture of month 1 so here it is.

Robin, Michelle, Carolyn and myself are doing it in the colorway that Crabapple Hill suggests using a variegated blue/brown floss, which is gorgeous by the way!!! Nan, who is running the show, is doing hers in purple variegated with purple batiks. Hers is gorgeous as well. You will notice that there is a lot more to this project than most because you first trace onto a cream on cream piece of fabric and then make the alternating blocks, but then you have to trace some more onto those blocks and do more embroidery. It took me approximately 3 weeks doing a little each night in front of the TV but enjoyed every minute of it. I'm going to trace now so I can have it ready.

School reopens here in our town on Tuesday. I'm so sad to be going back to the 7am-3pm grind because I really enjoyed later hours and Fridays off. I'll have to spend a little time tomorrow getting my clothes ready....no more shorts and tee shirts, back to the real world and business attire.

And speaking of school reopening, I mentioned earlier that I took my youngest back to school in Rhode Island yesterday....Senior year for her and happy that it is. She's a wonderful student and is going back this year giving Big Poppy a break on tuition and housing having won scholarships last year but lemme tell you, even knowing it's the last time she had to pack up the car she was no happier than she was the first day going to Penn State 4 years ago..... I am sure May 2011 when she graduates she will be smiling :) and so will Mom and Big Poppy!!!

Hope everyone has a happy Labor Day.

Dot, Dots, I'm Seeing Dots

Yes, I'm seeing DOTS and I love it!!! Not only are most of the fabrics in my scrap project dots, the 2 projects pictured here are DOTS!!!

I sent both of the following quilts out to my favorite quilter Sandi 2 weeks ago and got them back yesterday all ready for binding. I know I've shown pictures but I'm gonna show more now.....

First is the Mary E top. I used one of the cream/blue dots that's in the body of the quilt for the backing and asked Sandi to do a flower to match the Mary E flowers and do the quilting in a cream. She did an awesome job of getting the flowers almost exact!

Then I sent the Circle Around top which is all raw edge circles and asked Sandi to use the lightest, airiest batting she could and only quilt it lightly with an all over meander. The backing for this is HUGE dots too.... Now all that's left to do is bind them.