Pure love

What more can you ask from life? I was given a little angel from heaven.

She is 6 months old today.

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Left overs

I decided that I wanted turkey enchiladas for dinner. I didn't have any corn tortillas so I stopped by the store after work (11:30 pm)to pick some up. I couldn't see premade ones so I picked up the flour to see how hard it would be to make my own. It didn't look to hard. I asked a sales person if they had any premade ones and he found them for me. I still bought the floor to try making some this weekend. Guess what. I left the premade ones at the store. I wasn't going back tonight. It is way to cold. So I guess I am making homemade corn tortillas tonight at midnight. (I'm crazy) they were easier than I thought they would be. They taste so much better. Here is the finished product on the bottom and tomorrows dinner on top.

update, they taste AWESOME if I say so myself.

Thrifty shopping

Thanksgiving turned out ok. We had a power outage from 8 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon. It wasn't so bad because we had ham that was already precooked and the other stuff only took an hour to make. (yams, corn, gravy, stovetop stuffing and brown and serve rolls). It wasn't so good for a neighbor of mine. She woke up at 7 and put her turkey in the oven, 1 hour later all the power was out. She was not to happy. She ended up having to wait for the transformer by our house to get repaired.

I ended up staying awake because I wanted to go shopping at 5am. I bought the two things I wanted at Bi-Mart then decided to go to Fred Meyers for free coffee and donuts. Of course I had to buy their 50 percent off socks for everybody in the house except for my poor daughter Shay, who has no socks. Isn't that the way it usually happens.

To keep up with the shopping fever, I went to a Goodwil outlet store. This is where all the things that don't sell at the regular stores will go to for final sale by the pound. I ended up getting forty mens 100% cotton shirts and a tall dresser for $27.00 total. I also bought this. A 35 x 52 wool crazy quilt. It is so cool. It was yelling at me, "over here, over here!". This is the 3rd quilt I have bought there. The dresser was $5 and the rest turned out to be about 50 cents each.
I am in the process of cutting up the shirts for quilts. My daughters boyfriend ended up getting 3 of them because he needed them for work and little David got one and a set of PJs that I found too. Olivia also received a little pink outfit. Again Poor Shay didn't get anything.
I am going to have to take her out for a shopping spree for her. She loves going there. First we will go though the closet to remove some before we bring more in.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday.

Olivia

Olivia is 5 1/2 months old. She is the most content baby I have ever known. She watches her brother, laughs with him and anything else. While I was making dinner she played quietly and giggled to herself.

It is so amazing how much she looks like her mother at that age. Here it is at midnight and Olivia and I are wide awake and keeping each other company. Everyone else is in bed asleep. I am still on my work schedule and I do want to go shopping tomorrow (or is it today) at 5.

Not much quilting going on until Saturday when I get back to my friends house.

Tomorrow will be a day of cleaning and preparing for things to be brought back to the house. I am so excited. It is looking so awesome.

Hexies on the trail!

Well I actually sat down yesterday and today and prepped my border of white hexes. I need over 30 of the same kind. This is the boring part. My next task is to attach them to the outside.

I don't know if I am hopeful or just crazy. There is over 200 papers already punched out. They might go for this little quilt or, heaven forbid, another hexie quilt. Time will tell.

Quick quilt

It is finished! This is one of the quilts that I cut out this last weekend. It is only 48 x 60. This one is a youth size quilt. I don't plan on putting a border on it. In fact all I am going to do is turn it in "as is". If someone else decides that it needs a border, that is ok. They can put in on. I did the part I liked and I am happy with it.

This quilt is such a quick quilt. The pattern is one that you can cut up your scraps and collect them until you have enough for a quilt.

Here are the cutting sized to make a 12 inch block.

Center block is 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 (1 pc)
Long logs are 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 (8 pcs)
Short logs are 2 1/2 x 4 1/2 (4 pcs)

Try it. They can get addicting. I am already planning my next one.

Friday night sew in part 4

Here is what the blocks look like. Only 16 more to go! It will be a small quilt. About 48 x 60 without borders.

Friday night sew in part 3

This is part 3 of my 2 day marathon. Besides watching True Blood and Fringe (both full seasons multi disks), I have started sewing on one of the quilts that I cut out yesterday. This is half way done. Next is pressing then assembling blocks. 15 minute break and back to the sewing machine.

Friday night sew in part 2

I finally finished my 40th birthday quilt. The top was done and quilted 2 months after my birthday. That was 12 years ago. ( Yes I am 52 )

I finally put the binding on last night. I have even washed the quilt twice without the binding on.

I really hate to do the binding. I am so glad it is done. It is 52 x 65. Small for me.

For my birthday we did a cutting bee. 4 of us brought 10 half yard pieces of fabric in light, medium and dark (30 total).  We cut it into (3) 2 1\2and (2) 4 1\2 strips. We then traded strips and made quilts out of our strips. I choose basket blocks. I put flannel on the back (Penguins of course). A small cuddle quilt for me.

Friday night sew in

Boy did I have a much needed sewing marathon. I finished my "Lattice" quilt. I decided that it needed borders. If I would have used the center fabric on the outside corners, I would not had to adds corner blocks because I had more of that fabric than the corner fabric. I always make more work for myself. I think it turned out ok anyway.

It took me longer than I wanted, because I got sidetracked. I picked up a bunch of samples from my guild meeting. Of course since they were new I had to play with them. I cut the samples into two and a half inch wide strips. I then found not 1 but 2 patterns that I liked. So now I have 2 more UFOs cut out.

I think it makes me very happy to cut fabric almost a more than it does to make the quilt. I am also, at the same time, trimming my pile of 1 1/2 inch strips, that were gifted to me, into logs for a log cabin quilt. I'm not sure how big the blocks are going to be, but I am thinking it would go faster with bigger blocks than smaller ones. I do really enjoy the smaller ones though.

Time to get up and out of bed and start on todays sewing marathon.

Afterthought,. My friend is going to take me to see how my house is going. I haven't been there for over a week. Not having a car sucks!

FNSI November 2013

It is that time again. Head out to Wendy's blog sugarlanequilts.blogspot.com to join

Can't wait. I always have fun even if a sew alone at home. I always enjoy looking at everyone elses work afterwards. Feel free to join.

Quilting marathon

Boy have I been productive saturday. The first quilt is a freebie quilt from The Moda bakeshop. It is called, "Simply Woven". Here is the address, http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/10/simply-woven-quilt.html?m=1

You will have to copy and paste because I can't do links easily from my phone.

The pattern calls for jelly rolls and yardage for background fabric. I resized it so I could see if I wanted to make a full size quilt. I used 1 1/2 inch strips. It will look so cute in the doll crib I have. It is 21 x 27.

The other quilt is called, "lattice" I think. I don't remember where I got the pattern. Originally the pattern is for 18 inch blocks but I made it into 12 inch because, I was able to use a bunch of fast 8ths that I had. It work great. I am going to add a border because I want it a little bit bigger. It is 60 x 72 now.

Sunday is a new day. I can't wait to see what I can accomplish.

Hexie update

Here's an update of my new project. It is definitely an addiction! Should I keep on adding? Should I square it off and stop? decisions decisions

Stay tuned.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!
This was a visitor at work! He was about 3 inches long. I was going to just let him go but, a coworker captured him and took him outside. It was his lucky day.
Hope you all had a great hallows eve!

l

Makes me want to make a spiderweb quilt!

Sewing machine doilies for real!

Yesterday I had planned to add the little doilies to my post, but somehow I got side tracked and ended up not adding them. Here they are. I plan to give these out for little gifts when I need a small token. They are about 2 inches across.  The hexie one is my own pattern. The flower is from about.com under crocheted flowers. I think it is #3. I used crochet thread and a small hook. I just winged it. I think it turned out cute. I plan on looking at different patterns and adjusting the hook and thread size. If it is over 5 rows, I don't think I will use it. I need quick satisfaction.

These are placed under the spool of thread on your sewing machine, instead of the piece of felt that is there. I think they are much cuter. I am planning on using didn't colors too.

New Hexies and Sewing machine doilies

Am I addicted or what? You would think that I would continue with a previous hexie project, nope not me. I bought a new paper punch that was a one inch hexagon. Of course I had to play with it. One thing led to another and another. This is just two days of playing. I wonder how long it will last until I get distracted with a new shiny project!

Bonnie Hunter challenge.

Ok it is real late 3am and I decided to post my Bonnie Hunter Challenge progress. All I have with me at my friends house is Bonnie's split 9 patch challenge. I have been sewing them in between other projects. So far it is only the half square triangles section. I plan on having the dark triangles all red so it gives it a line for movement. Thus is what I have so far.

Saturday morning walk

Well I decided to talk a walk today before the weather turned nasty. I found two geocaches, one has taken me over a year and four trips to find.

It amazes me how many flowers are still in bloom! There were Roses, Dahlias, hydrangeas and quite a few that I didn't know their names. I also found mushrooms for my collection of pictures.

I sometimes forget how well it feels to be out in the fresh air.

Threse are a few of my pictures.

The colors of Fall

What can say Fall better than a crisp colorful Fall leaf!

Friday/Saturday night sew-in

Since I work swing shift, Saturday was my Friday. This is what I worked on for my friend Betty. This is the left over blocks from a king size quilt that I quilted for her earlyer. She inspires me.

I have included the back too. They ended up being 9 inch blocks. The colors are fantastic!

Rain, rain go away!

Well phase 1 is done. I had a cleaning company come in and not only remove all the wet carpet and walls but pack up and move my family room (previous picture) and my bedroom! They were awesome. The company was called Service Master. I recommend them so far. I will be talking to them tomorrow about fixing the walls and painting. I have a different company that will be doing the floors. I am thinking of a laminate instead if carpet. It is easier to clean and reduces allergies. We will see. Here are pictures of the progress.

It is not always a bad when it rains!

Quick update. My homeowners insurance will cover the repairs! They are even paying someone to pack up and move everything!
It is had to see the damage. The carpet is wet to about half way into the room.

Here is what they have to pack up and move. I feel so sad but happy. I will be getting it cleaned out and my sewing/craft room will be worked on! Yeah

When it rains, it pours

Just when I was going to go home and just relax sewing, not on the agenda. My youngest daughter (and her family) who lives with me, calls me at 11:00 pm while I was at work telling me that it was raining inside the house. Turns out that the hot water pipe going to my upstairs sink had popped off and was flooding my bathroom. Not only that but went thought the floor into the family room below. I currently am using that room as a storage room. Not good news for me. I have been going to clean it out for a sewing room eventually, but this is Gods way of kicking me in the butt.

I do have homeowners insurance, so I am going to call them Monday to get things started. I will move things out of the way so they can evaluate the damage. I do know that the ceiling is going to be worked on. How extensive the damage is, I will wait and see. No use crying over spilled water? Oh yeah, and possibly some bathroom repairs too.

Random picture for happy thoughts.

MaryJane taking over my ironing table.

Give away

Winners for my 100th post.

The benefits of a small following. I had 2 comments so,

EACH ONE will get a pouch. I will contact them both to get an address and a color choice. This is great. I enjoy making them but I don't need a bunch of them.

Now for a random picture.

101 post give away

Here we go. This is the pouch I made for the swap. I hope that she likes it.

For my giveaway I will make one in the color of your choice. Just leave a comment about a swap you may have joined and why you liked or didn't like it. I will choose the winner by a random drawing next Sunday the 29th.

Good luck!

FNSI and my 100 post

Well Friday was a sew in night. Not much for me. All I did was cut about 15 strips of red fabric and then cut 6 of then into triangles to make split 9 patches to use as leader and enders for a Bonnie Hunter challenge.
I didn't do anything else. So sad. I didn't even take any pictures.

I will do that tomorrow.

I am going try my first give away. It will celebrate my 100th post. Details will be in the next post. I figure since I am late a lot lately I will do the post tomorrow.

I need to take pictures of a swap pouch that I made (which won't be late because it is done and due before the first.). I am thinking of making another one to give away in the winners choice, but that is for the next post.

I am going to add a random picture because I enjoy looking at other peoples pictures on their blogs, so here goes.

12:09 am

Why do I do my best thinking and sewing so late. I have a job interview at one tomorrow and all I could do is look at blogs. Oh yes the rain is hitting the roof and it is so relaxing. I think I am ready to go to sleep. I will think about where to get a cheap car to get around tomorrow.

Here is a pretty flower. Never hurts.

Sunday

Well last night I ended up finishing a top. I wrote about it earlier. I only showed one block. Here is the whole thing.

I just noticed that I will be posting my 100 post soon. It has taken me years because the funny thing is, I don't like to write. I started this to get me over that dislike. I still don't care to write, but I don't mind blogging. It is shorter and if I don't feel like doing it that day, I don't.

Anyway, back to the picture.

Saturday morning

This morning I was woken up by my daughter asking to take care of my granddaughter. I was a little grumpy because I didn't sleep much last night. She left a little upset. After I woke up a minute later I remembered I told her I would help with her. I got dressed and went downstairs and told her that I would take Olivia out for a walk. W went goecaching and it turned out super. We saw beautiful flowers and things. It was her first cache. I am glad I changed my attitude. That walk was just what I needed.

Now to do it again.

Friday sewing

What do you do at 4:00 in the morning when you can't sleep?

Sew!

I finished the last little trash bag. I tried to go to sleep at midnight and ended up waking up at 3:30. I just said forget trying to go back to sleep, I might as well do something productive. I made some for my quilting friends and I had an order for 4 for Christmas presents. What takes the longest is picking out the little squares. I was thinking of selling these on Etsy. What do you think?

I am keeping the pink one for me. Every time I make one for me, I end up giving it away. Not this time. It is mine!

Fun fact

I went to the Tualatin Libuary today. (yes I visit libraries a lot). While I was there I was reading the current Reader's Digest magazine. In it was a real cool word;

Squirrelled: 11 letters; the longest monosyllabic English word.

Anything with "Squirrel" in it has to be cool!

Wednesday

Started the day by going to the Libuary to go job hunting. I applied at one place and I have 3 more possibilities.

I stopped and smelled roses along the way. These are a few pictures of them. If you look close at one of them you will see a busy bee hard at work.

I am going to finish sewing more of the bright blocks I started the other day. I have made 20 and I only have 10 more to go.

New project

You would think with all the UFOs I have I would sew on one of them? Nope. I an starting a charity quilt. It is a simple pattern. I picked up some free sample fabric from my guild during the last meeting. It was a pile of bright butterfly fabric.

This is the block I am making and there is the pile of fabrics. I will see how much is left over when I finish the quilt. I am only making a youth quilt about 45 x 60. I will only need 30 blocks.

I need to work on some of my own stuff too. I am definitely a starter and sometime finisher.

Days journey post 2

Here is a picture of some of the art work they have at some of the stops.

I am also doing my geocaching at the same time. My first cache in Gresham.

I stopped in at the Craft Warehouse and they had a quilting club! Of course I am stopping to play! Woo Hoo!