New stuff!

Good Saturday Morning to everyone!  Just a quick post to show you what I received in the mail the other day...

The first one is the new Toasty line by Jo Morton, and the second is Luminaries - also a Jo line.  Love them both!  My favorite is the top fabric in the Toasty picture - I really wish I had a bolt of it!  The Luminaries are really nice, but the picture doesn't do them justice.  I especially like the brown and pink pieces.  I ordered these from Sew Unique Creations - and along with them came a little surprise!  You all remember that I love presents/surprises, right?  There was a little scrap package in there from Tara - so fun!!  Can't wait to use them today. 

I also wanted to give you a sneak peek of some jewelry that I will post on the website later today...

I was running low on pins, so we made one batch all pins - then sold a few to The Woolen Needle yesterday.  The pendant and earrings are blue and brown - but it's hard to tell from this picture.  The 2 pinwheel pendants, in the last picture, are one-of-a-kind - we won't be making any more of these - they were too hard to frame up because of the thickness in the center where all of the seams meet.  All of our jewelry is pretty much one-of-a-kind, but this pattern won't see the light of day again - so if you want something very unique, you better check the website later this afternoon!

Mom and I had a good road trip yesterday.  The shop in Williamsburg is really nice - love the darks and the wool.  And they did like the tan flags - I thought they would!  We went to the the Tanger outlet mall too.  I am just not much of a shopper - unless it is for quilt-related items! 

Ok...I'm off to take pics for the website - have a great day!!

Behold the Sparkle Ball!

Have you ever heard of a sparkle ball?  The sparkle ball is a very popular item in our house.  I'm sure that many people use these for craft items.  Not us!  Callie LOVES sparkle balls!  She always has.  There are 3 different sizes - she likes the medium size.  They come in many different colors, and she by far prefers pink!  It's true! (I know that I keep sounding more and more like the crazy cat lady).  I will prove to you that I am not crazy (well kind of crazy, but not CCL crazy!).  We bought Callie a big bag of sparkle balls at Hobby Lobby.  If we leave them out, she will drag every single ball out of the package and have them EVERYWHERE - kind of like leaving a bag of candy in front of a kid, or leaving a bag of chocolate in front of me!  So we stuck them inside a kitchen cabinet.  Looks what happens any time you open any of the cabinet doors in the island:

She always hops in the cabinet and digs in the bag of sparkle balls!  She loves to bat them around, carry them everywhere in her mouth, and play fetch (I swear she was a dog in a previous life).  We find them in her food dish all the time.  I think she is so used to having them in her mouth, she forgets they are there.  She will bring one to you and sit there and make the purring noise until you throw it.  Well, last night, in the middle of the night, she was being a brat and jumping and playing on the bed.  I didn't know what her problem was, but she kept waking me up.  She started in again this morning.  I finally became coherent enough to figure out that she had a sparkle ball and wanted to play!  What a brat.

Yesterday was not very productive, so today I really have to get busy.  I did manage to make a few flag pins yesterday.  In the past I have usually made them the typical red, white and blue, but decided to try using a darker tan in these - for a more primitive look.  Let me know what you think of the tan...

I am going to a great shop tomorrow called The Woolen Needle in Williamsburg, IA, and I hope they like the tan - I think they will.  Their shop is awesome - they do a lot of wool (duh...their name is WOOLEN Needle) and carry many Civil War reproduction fabrics and lots of darks.  My goal will be to sell more than I spend!  Sometimes that's difficult to do!

Hope you have a Sparkle Ball of a day!!  (can it get any cheesier than that?)

Busy, busy busy...

Do you ever feel like you are busy, busy, busy all the time, but never get everything accomplished that you want?  I have so many things I want to do, but progress sure seems slow!  I am doing the Civil War Chronicles block of the month this year - I get it in the mail.  Last week I pieced Month One:

It is a 16" block (HUGE for me!), but I really like the fabrics.  I was going to start on Month Two but it is four 16" blocks, and I figured I didn't have time to do that.  Then yesterday I received Month Three (already!!).  It is also 4 blocks.  I really need to get busy on them - I don't like to get behind.  I have been working on jewelry most of the week.  Here are a few that we finished last night:

 This is what happened when I was trying to take the picture - she wanted to play with the wrist strap of my camera.

I don't know why these pictures are always sideways.  They aren't like that in the preview!  Notice they are all pins - we were really short on pins.  I will probably put these on the website later today (something else I need to get done!)

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I posted those pictures of all of the snow?  This morning it is RAINING!  Crazy Iowa weather.  I hate it when the snow melts in the spring and everything looks so yucky.  And our yard is a mess - now that the snow is gone we can see all of the things that Boomer has drug out and chewed up.

Here are a couple more pictures to let you know what Callie has been up to.  This make me laugh.  She and CC get to fighting in my sewing chair.  CC is up on top (being the Queen that she is) and Callie is on the seat.

They jump at each other and CC growls and hisses - Callie just makes her little purr sound. 

I think CC got tired of playing and went to bed.  Callie doesn't look like she is ready to give up just yet.  She kind of looks like she might pounce on me.  Doesn't she have an evil look in her eye?  And below she is stalking someone.  Nice ears - wonder if she can get them laid back any further?  Definitely up to no good.

On Friday I went to lunch with my two BFFs from high school.  We all claim February for our birthday month.  We try to get together every year, but it seems like someone usually has a sick kid (Nancy!) or something major happens that we can't meet.  As a matter of fact, the card I gave Nancy was from LAST YEAR!!  I was always going to mail it to her, but kept thinking we would get together.  It is always so great to see them - lots and lots of laughs and great memories. I don't know what I was thinking - I had my camera with me and didn't take any pictures of them.  DUH!  We did talk about getting together again before next February. I need to be sure to make that happen!

Remember the beginning of this post where I was talking about how much I need to get done?  Well, it isn't happening while I am sitting at the computer!  Gotta go!!  Have a great day and a great holiday tomorrow!

A little of this and that...

Sooooo glad to be home all day today.  I really don't have much to report on - I am working on a project that is a secret, so we can't talk about it.  Callie has been calm for a couple of days (scares me!) - so no big news on that front.   But, I did find a couple of cute pictures of her when she was little.

Isn't she the cutest little thing you ever did see?  I can't believe how tiny she is!

This just makes me laugh...

She used to always want to sleep on my keyboard - which was fine when she was tiny.  Then she got big and totally messed up my computer, so she can't nap there anymore.

This shows a funny picture of CC.  She does this when she is tired of me sewing, and wants some attention.

I thought I would show you a little bit more of my stash.  Red is probably my very favorite color, so let's take a look at the red stacks...

YUMMY!!!!  Very, very nice.  I could just look at them all day!

I better get back to cooking my vegetables (now I hope my Weight Watchers lady IS reading this!).  They are not nearly as yummy as the red fabrics...

More presents!

I think it has been established that I love presents, right? Here are some more of my birthday goodies...

These are from my Mom and Dad - aren't they cute?  I love the little girl sugar shaker.  They are antiques that have been in the family forever. Mom is also taking us (girls-only trip) to see Stars on Ice in March for all of our birthdays - so that will be lots of fun!


From the hubby...

Love these - Tara did a great job picking them out - I did not have any of these!

Yummy!  These are from Bonnie Blues new line

Cocoa Express by Jo Morton

and new from Aunt Judie (long story)

All very, very nice!  Can't wait to make some new jewelry with some of them.  I used to always buy fat quarters, but with my growing stash, and since I make jewelry that uses teeny, tiny pieces, I thought it best to ask for fat eight bundles!  That way I get to fondle them all, but I can still hopefully find room on my shelves for them.  I also got another gift card for Primitive Gatherings that I can't wait to use!  I really, really want to go there in person instead of shopping online.  Maybe one of these days I will take a road trip!  The kids gave me some nice gifts too - a gift card for Younkers and some Clinique stuff that I wanted.  I love getting their "freebie" bags twice a year, so the girls bought my Clinique things and gave me the freebie bag too - it's like EXTRA PRESENTS!!!  Fun!

I also wanted to show you the latest antics of bad kitty.  Poor OS - minding his own business, trying to take a nap, and look who comes along and attacks him. 

And one more - gives you an idea of her daily routine...

Yes, that is the back end of her, because the front end is under my quilt that is hanging on my design wall.  She is crazy!  Now let's see what good kitties do....yes, this is CC sitting in the window looking out, minding her own business.

Notice that there are two cats who mind their business and generally stay out of trouble.  Then there is wild child Callie!  She keeps us all on our toes.

Enough for now - time for me to get sewing!  Have a great Sunday and a Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!

I LOVE PRESENTS!!!!

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE PRESENTS!?!?!?!?!  Well, I do, and everyone who knows me is very well aware of it.  This is my birthday month (yes, I claim the whole month!), and the actual day is the 12th (yeppers...me and Honest Abe).  Today, my wonderful mail lady (love her too!) brought a box...from Aunt Nancy!  Now, you know that is going to be a good one!  She is a good cook, has good taste, is a quilter, and knows everything I like!  She has always spoiled me (she only has boys - I'm the only girl) and I love it!!  Take a look at what was inside the box:

Uh huh - there are cookies  in that box in the top picture.

Aren't they pretty?   I mentioned before that she makes the best sugar cookies.  I generally do not like cut out, frosted cookies.  But look what quickly happened to these:

and a minute later...

And all of a sudden, THREE cookies had disappeared!  (I sincerely hope that my weight watchers lady is not reading this.  She specifically told me last night that she wants to see less of me next week). 

Look what else was in there...

These are some of the new muslins by Primitive Gatherings.  I have been wanting to check these out and even ordered a charm pack to see what the shades were.  The charm pack was out of stock, so I still hadn't seen them.  Sneaky Aunt Nancy asked me about them the other day - so she knew that my little heart desired them!  She found these in MN and bought me half-yard pieces!  YUMMY! Love them all!

And look - there is more...

 

A nice little bag made from super-cute fabric.  She is just so talented and crafty!

Oh, we are not done yet...keep looking....

 She always makes everything look pretty!

Yummy!  Cocoa and cappuccino mixes!  Chocolate raspberry?!

And still more...

This is a bag of Cherrywood hand dyed scraps from Aunt Nancy's friend Bev (thanks Bev!).  They are taking a class with the Cherrywood ladies and have gotten lots of really great hand dyed fabrics.  Look at the picture below - this is the group taking the class - Aunt Nancy gave them each one of my pendants made from the Cherrywood fabrics.

Look at the beautiful jacket that Bev made with the hand dyes - very cool.  Aunt Nancy is the tall one in the back row.  Hope you all don't mind that I posted your picture!


Back to presents - look at the final present in my birthday box...

 Is this not the coolest bag ever?  It's kind of hard to tell, but the fabrics are pinks/browns/neutrals - some of my favs.  I just LOVE this bag.  And look at the detail below on the stitchery.  Enlarge the picture so you can see what she "wrote"!  It brought tears to my eyes! 

I am so excited - I really need to be productive this afternoon (since I wasn't this morning), but now I just want to look at all my new goodies and fondle them all day. 
I tried to call Auntie to thank her, but she is not home.  THANK YOU!!!!  I love them all!!!!!!!!!

Hope you all have time to fondle some fabric this afternoon....

Thinking Ahead

I know Christmas is a long time away, but you know how quickly these things get away from us.  I found this picture somewhere online, but there was no pattern name or anything else to identify it.  It is a Christmas tree skirt, and I really need to make one before December.  Does anyone know what this pattern is? 

This isn't a very good picture, but as you know, I am technically challenged!  If you know the name of this pattern and/or where I could purchase it, please let me know.

One more picture for you - this is what I saw out of my sewing room window first thing this morning....

My camera doesn't have a strong zoom, so I'm not sure if you can tell - but it's two deer!  They are both walking on the snow-covered pond.  They acted hungry, but I didn't offer to make them breakfast.

Have a fun Superbowl Sunday!

Look at the new pretties!

Just a quick post to show you what my wonderful mail lady brought me yesterday! 

Aren't they cute?  I just love them all.  A fellow blogger, Cornbread & Beans , posted a picture and a link for these scissors, and I just couldn't help myself.  Check out all the great scissors (and more!) at Silent Stitches.  They have sooo many things to choose from.  So what might make them even cuter?  Well, my little scissor fobs, of course!  Don't they look great?  I need to get pictures taken and get them listed on my website today.  (I don't know why my typing is in this white box, but I can't make it stop - technically challenged, you know).

I also wanted to show you that I actually did sew that quilt top together yesterday, and I found no more holes from devil kitty.  This is a pattern by Lori Smith - I love all of her patterns - called Aunt Maggie's Patchwork Quilt.  Lori is so creative and talented and it always amazes me at all the things she gets done! 

So, here is the top, but I still need to decide on borders.  I was thinking maybe a narrow black border then a wider red border?  Let me know what you think.  Red seems to be my answer for everything these days - it is my new favorite color!