There's a Giveaway Going On

Yes, another giveaway! Now, I'll link ya to it but come on, don't go entering, I want to win one of these and if you all go and enter then I have a lesser chance at winning :(
ok, here it is ---->http://www.squashhousequilts.com/

Circle Around

FINALLY....I finished my Circle Around quilt today! I only started in back in mid May :(


I got sidetracked and then lost my darn mojo but once I started assembling the rows yesterday afternoon I just kept on until I got it all done.

The pattern was in the Summer 2010 Quilts & More magazine which I ordered directly from Julie Herman at her site http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/ and she also had kits for the quilt....I don't know if she's got any kits left but you can certainly go on over to her blog and see....

There's a Giveaway Going On

There's a giveaway going on-----> http://buttermilkbasin.blogspot.com/
Go on over and enter to win $50 in patterns!!!

Summer Flowers

My garden is not very big......and I don't have much in it, mainly because neither hubby nor I are gardeners. I do like flowers though so we do have a small area where I've tried growing sunflowers, with no luck, but these black eyed susans grow like weeds summer after summer!

I figure if I can't enjoy sunflowers then these are the next best substitute!

On the sewing front, the blue star runner is done.

I have it sandwiched and pinned but don't know quite how I want to quilt it so it's just sitting sandwiched on my ironing board. In the meantime I'm going to work on the Circle Around top.

When it's 93 and getting hotter by you, what do you do?

I am staying inside and sewing.....

Down Baltimore Way

Went to visit my daughter down in Maryland on Monday with my other daughter so I took a picture of them outside the restaurant we went to for lunch. We ate at the The Red Brick Station Restaurant & Brew Pub and had a great meal and fun conversation...mostly about "True Blood" from Sunday night.The restaurant is in a mall called "The Avenue at White Marsh" and has some great stores and restaurants! The fountain the girls were sitting on was nice and this sculpture was outside the Barnes and Noble store that the girls wanted to look around in. Jen actually works across the harbor from the Inner Harbor area. She's in the old American Can development area. You can see the harbor from the front of the hair salon she works at. We saved a tour of the inner harbor for a day that wasn't close to 100 degrees.....If you're ever down Baltimore Way and need a haircut, Jen's your girl...email me and I'll hook you up!!!

Fat Quarter Bundle Liberation

I have to tell you, this post is not for the faint of heart so if you think you cannot handle my fat quarter bundle liberation then click off my blog right now :) I decided this morning that the quilt can't possibly be assembled and enjoyed if I don't liberate the bundle....Say goodbye bundle :)

If you're still with me, congratulations........

I hear a sigh of relief............................

they've been unbundled!!!! And now, they are going for a spin in the washing machine...............

All washed? YAY.........Here they are, coming out of the dryer. Ah....so nice, and now they're ready for ironing and cutting into. That was really not so bad after all. I suggest all you bundle hoarders out there 'release the bundles'...let them enjoy being used.

Mail Call

Oh yeah....I did a little bit o shopping over the weekend at Daisy Cottage Quilting over at Sharon Yeager's blog.........Lemme tell you, she is the best! I ordered on Saturday, she shipped on Monday and they were in my mailbox not 10 minutes ago...not bad for coming half way across the US.....Everything came wrapped up in cute yellow and white checkered tissue paper, each packie individually wrapped and that little ole pile in the back came wrapped separately with a cute red ribbon...

The bundle in the front is Flower Sugar and the bundle in the back is Mama's Favorite's.

I love the vintage look of the Flower Sugar fabrics so I just had to have them. I'm thinking the reds and blues will go perfect with some raggedy embroideries!!!

Just click on the link to Sharon's blog if you'd like to do some shopping of your own....

Is There?

Is there a support group for quilters who can't cut the ribbon on their fat quarter and jelly roll bundles? If there is, I need to join!!!

I have the Abbey Lane Quilts pattern called "Match Box" with all the fabric needed to make it but I'm having trouble taking the ribbon off the bundle and jelly roll....I know I should just ask hubby or my daughter to do it as I leave the room but I just love looking at it all wrapped up...

Coincidentally, if you open the new "Quilter's Home" magazine and turn to page 64-65 there is a nice story about the Abbey Lane gals...with a picture of Match Box in the article. If I could just open the ribbon.................

Also, I finally put the last few stitches in the binding on my Meadow Blocks quilt last night.

I was very nervous assembling the top back in May because I wasn't sure how all the assorted prints would really go together but one assembled and quilted, well, I just fell in love with it! I used one of the large prints for the backing so it's pretty much reversible. I think I might have to keep this one for myself for tv watching.

I've got tomorrow off from work so I may be sewing most of the afternoon....anyone want to join me?????????

Top 3

July 15-August 31 Top Three

1) Assemble Mary Engelbreit Layer Cake Quilt

2) Assemble Winter Stars Runner

3) Assemble Circle Around Quilt

http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/04/cover-really.html <----click here to see what its supposed to look like

I am so proud of the fact that when I made the above list the ME blocks were all just sitting in a pile waiting for assembly...Here they are today....all assembled and pressed. I found the white with blue dots that's already in the quilt online and on sale with free shipping so once it gets here I will assemble the back and send it out for quilting.....I'm so excited, only 3 days into the challenge and I'm already done with 1 project!

Where the heck.............

WHERE THE HECK DID MY SEWING MOJO GO????

I feel like I have been in a real slump.....I have not done a lick of real sewing in weeks. Since I was off Friday I got up, got myself moving and after lunch I decided I was coming in my sewing room and I was gonna find my "sewing mojo" if it took me all day. Thankfully, once I started picking up this and folding it and picking up that and putting it in the cabinet where it belonged, I found my mojo.....I grabbed a pile of blocks that I'd been working on since May and I got them assembled into rows and border # 1 attached. This is the fabric that I'll use for the border....

I received the Mary Engelbreit layer cake kit from Michelle as a gift at retreat in May and since I'm a big ME fan I really wanted to assemble the quilt as soon as possible.

Then I had an email from Robin asking me if I wanted to pick a project from our Thimbleberries "Welcome to the Table" club that we both do thru the Main Street Cotton Shop. Since we've been doing this club for almost a year and I haven't assembled a single kit (yes, you heard that right, not a single one) I decided that I'd pick a winter themed project and get a jump on the winter of 2010. The kit is called "Winter Stars Runner" and you get everything you need to assemble runner including backing. Main Street sends you written instructions to finish the runner but you have to make the center of it from the Thimbleberries "Big Book of Quilt Blocks".

I cut the project out after dinner tonight and have the center totally assebled and pressed. I may or may not attach the first border tonight, I'm not sure. This is how it looks so far though.

Normally, Robin, Michelle and I pick 3 projects a month that we ATTEMPT to finish in the 30 days. The past 6 weeks have pretty much been a bust for all 3 of us. If you look at Michelle's blog you will see her "Sewing Room in a Box" post and Robin has been working a lot on wool projects. Other than losing my mojo, I had no excuse.... BUT, I'm making a pledge to try and at least start all 3 of my projects this month and with the ME quilt and the winter runner, I've accomplished that. I hope by the end of August I will have added a "DOT" quilt that I cut out and made all the blocks at retreat and if memory serves me, I have them all assembled in piles of rows too....

I'm hoping I will be able to post more over the next week.....

Tote Bag Finish

I know I've only been home for less than 24 hours but when I sat down to watch tv last night I decided that this tote bag HAD to be completed....well, the sandman had other ideas for this weary traveler. So, this morning when my stupid cell phone alarm went off at 6am and woke me up, I got out of bed and came downstairs and finished the edging on it. I LOVE the bag and fabric and I'm thrilled with how it came out but I still think there HAD to be a better way of putting the piping/binding around the edges.

I may have posted about this bag earlier in the summer before I put the binding on but NOW it's totally done!!!

I have a hair appointment with my favorite stylist today for a cut and color before she relocates to Maryland. I will miss her a lot but she's happy to be starting a new phase of her life and although she's leaving NJ I will still see her a lot.....my loss is Tim & Maryland's gain :) Here's Jen with the boy that's taking her home with him on Sunday......

Good luck at Brocatos Hair Salon!!!

Love, Mom....

Raggedy & Friends BOM

I am back from my cruise and lemme tell you, cruising is the way to vacation. I had the best week but I'm happy to be back home :)

So, is anyone interested in a cute Raggedy and Friends BOM? Hop on over to the Painted Quilt's blog, you can click on the link on my sidebar to read all about it. It is really cute and if you know anyone that's got a little girl or boy, I think it would be super cute.....

See this ship? That's the Explorer of the Seas...I will be aboard it tomorrow, Saturday, July 3rd, cruising for 5 days to Bermuda.

I can't wait to be waited on hand and foot and sit poolside all day. Hope you all have a nice July 4th! See ya back here on Friday.

Peggy

PS: Happy 25th Birthday Dan!

Sorry we are leaving on your birthday but I'm thinking you'll probably have plenty of people to keep you company as you celebrate!!!

12 Days?

Wow, has it really been 12 days since I last blogged? Where the heck have I been and what have I been doing???? I can tell you I have not been doing any serious sewing that's for sure!!!

Bindings on quilted tops and a few 9 patch blocks but nothing much to write home about.

I did have a few items on reserve that came in the mail today and even though I have been on a "NO BUY", I did buy these 2 kits....

The first one is a small "Sweetwater" quilt kit and the other is a "Sanibel" fat quarter packet with border yardage to assemble the attached pattern.