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!!!