Cats, flowers and quilts

Happy Sunday!  I couldn't sleep this morning and decided to get up at 5:30 - figured I might as well get this day started.  I went downstairs to feed the beggars (Ozzie and Callie) and noticed that Callie was immediately interested in the window well.  There was a mouse in there (on the outside, thank God!), trying to get in.  Stupid mouse...could he not see THREE cats just waiting for him?  He couldn't get in, but Calllie wanted at him.  I put her up on the sill - it's only a couple inches wide, I figured she would fall out!  I finally walked away - I'm waiting for hubby to get up so he can take care of it (mouse patrol is NOT my duty!) - maybe one of the outside kitties will take care of it first. 

Speaking of kitties - I have to tell you about Callie's favorite thing to do.  She's been doing this for awhile now, and it just makes me laugh every time.  One day I could not find her, I could hear her (making her little meowpurr noise).  Finally I found her sitting BEHIND the door.  She sits back there and wants you to play with her through the crack of the door.  I've tried a zillion times to get pictures, but she is usually moving so fast it's hard to get.  Here's an idea...

She is such a dork.  A lot of times if you walk into a room, she goes running by, to get behind the door so you will play with her.  It just cracks me up.   When the Schwans man comes, the other cats go run and hide (scaredy cats).  Not Callie, she comes running to him - she loves him - because he plays with her through the crack while we figure out what we want to order.  Her other new thing is her chicky.  She loves this chicky (that's what I call it).

She hauls this thing around in her mouth - it's about 1/3 as big as she is.  She always makes a loud meowing noise when she has it, so you can hear her coming with it.  Then she expects you to throw it so she can go fetch it.  Do you think she was a dog in a previous life?

And the last cat news for the day is this:

There is a toy that is filled with catnip that Ozzie is in love with!  This is him, chilling with his catnip toy!

Ok...onto other things (so you don't think I'm the crazy cat lady!).  Look at this awesome tree that hubby planted outside my sewing room window.

I can't believe how many blooms it has.  He was told that it is pink...but not yet!  We did look at the card that came with it (when the blooms all came out white) and it says that later in the season they will turn to pink. I hope so!  He has been really taking care of it - watering it frequently - since it has been soooo hot and dry here this summer. 

And now...last but not least...on to quilts.  Or, I should say quilt blocks.  These are my month 7 Civil War Chronicles blocks.

Not quite as busy as some of the previous ones.  I love the red (of course).  Not much else quilty going on here.  I made a banner for my booth and am always working on new jewelry.  My next month of CWC should have been here by now - I bet I will get it next week, then hopefully I will have some more to show you!

Have a great day!!

New Postings

I decided since I have all of this jewelry made up I might as well put some of it on my website for all of you.  I picked out some of my favorites -you will have to let me know what you think.  Here are a few of the new pieces that are  now on the website:

 I am on a "log cabin kick" and have made scrappy log cabins in all different colors - I love the red!

 I have this pumpkin in a fob as well - and a pin.

 Yep...log cabin kick!

 Can't go wrong with pink and brown

 This is one of my old stand-by pieces - these look really good with denim

 A little purple and yellow

And...I love this new fob.  This flag is normally made into a pin, and it hit me one day that it would make a cool scissor fob.  What do you think of wearing it as a pendant, hanging the long way, like this?

I would love to hear your feedback on these new items!

Have a great day!

Galena Quilt Show

I know that I've been talking about this show for months, and have invited (begged) you all to come and see me.  Well...DON'T COME!  It has been canceled due to the huge amounts of rain they have gotten - with more in the forecast.  Are you kidding me???  We haven't had more than 1/10th of an inch for two months!  I am so disappointed - we have really worked hard to get ready for this.  But, the good news is - it is rescheduled for August 20th and 21st.  I have some scheduling conflicts with that - I'm supposed to be in MN that week - but hopefully we can get things all worked out and I can still go to both places.  I will keep you all posted!

We Have a Winner!!

That's right...it's Monday morning...and we have a winner!

Janet from Rogue Quilting blog is the lucky winner.  She is also hosting a giveaway right now - so go check out her blog and sign up. Janet has chosen a flag pin for her prize.  I want to thank everyone for participating and for all of your nice comments.  Now...those of you who did not win - feel free to visit my website and place an order - lol!

This is going to be a very short post - I am scrambling to get ready to vend the quilt show in Galena this coming weekend.  If any of you are in the area I would love for you to stop by and visit.  The show is in the ballroom in The DeSoto Hotel on main street.  I will be introducing a brand new jewelry design at the show and will blog about it and add it to my website when I get back from the show.

Here are a few new pieces that will be on display (ignore the worse-than-usual photos, I didn't do any editing)

Congratulations again to Janet!

Have a great day!

Time for a Giveaway!

I have decided to have a little giveaway - and you get to choose the prize!  You can pick one piece of my jewelry from my website, and if you are the winner that is what you win.  Rules aren't that much fun, so there are only a couple that you have to follow: 

#1 - you must be a follower and
#2 - you must go to my website:  www.meandmystitches.com  to the "Go Shopping" page and choose the piece of jewelry (or a scissor fob) that you would like to win, and leave that information in a comment here.  If you are not into jewelry (what the heck is wrong with you!!??) you can choose from the quilt patterns instead.

For a second chance to win, post about this giveaway on your blog, with a link back to this post, then leave a comment telling me that you did it.

I will draw a winner Monday morning, July 25th, so be sure to sign up before then!

Good luck and have a great day!!

Flowers and Scraps

Here are a few more flowers that DH brought in from the yard...

Pretty lilies - I love flowers.

And you all know that I love fabric too!  Look what came to live with me this week!

This is a MOUND of fabric "scraps". I was trying to be quick in taking these pictures, before Ozzie decided to come and make a  new bed!  Again...my idea of scraps seems to be different from everybody else - these are nice, big pieces!  This fun bag of scraps came from Brenda - who lives in Burlington, and frequents the Mt. Pleasant quilt shop - where she left me this big bag of goodies.  There are tons of Jo Morton fabrics in here and plenty of other good stuff too.  I made a bunch of new pieces of jewelry all from these fabrics - it's so much fun to have something different to work with (you know, because I have NOTHING in my stash!) - but it really is more fun to have something different.  Thanks so much, Brenda!!!  Love them all!

Have a great day!!

Baskets in the Cabin

I FINALLY finished my newest quilt pattern - called Baskets in the Cabin.   And...guess who made the cover?  Little Miss Callie!!  It was kind of an after-thought - we were trying to get a good picture, and she kept getting in the way, so we set her up on the bench and she stayed there and smiled pretty like a good kitty!  Ok, so maybe she didn't smile, but she did sit still long enough for us to snap a quick picture!  Next thing you know, she'll be in the movies.  Ok, maybe not that either.  But she did sit nicely for the picture!  And speaking of pictures - here is the new quilt pattern...

Awwww...doesn't she look cute? Oh...and don't forget to look at the QUILT too!! You can get more information and purchase your copy of the pattern on my website...www.meandmystitches.com

Also...I will be having a giveaway in the near future.  If you are not a follower -you need to sign up!  You will only be eligible to win if you follow.

Have a great evening!!

A little help from my friends...

As you know, I have a new-found love of wool, and when appliqueing with wool, of course you have to have the right threads to go with it.  I found these on Amazon for a really good price, and I thought it was a great color selection - so now I should be set to sew!  Of course, my amazing photography skills (not) have produced yet another blurry picture!

I received another squishy package in the mail (fun!).  This one was from Judy at Sew Fun Quilts.  I won this great fabric bundle on a giveaway on Judy's blog.  Be sure to check out her blog - she is always busy with something.  The colors are hard to capture in a photo (probably because of my stellar photography skills), but they are very pretty - soft and muted.  Just think of the fun things I can do with this little bundle!  Thanks Judy!!

And another package that came in the mail (Marty...now you can see all the things you have so kindly delivered to my mail box!)...a box from Quilter's Station, in Lee's Summit, MO.  These are always very fun boxes to open!  Rita sends me her "scraps" (they are much more than scraps in my book!) every now and then.  It's so nice to have different scraps to make jewelry with - and Rita has all of the best fabrics.  Love them all!!

Aren't they awesome?  And, obviously, Ozzie thought so too (I'm pretty sure he thinks he is helping me).  I left the room for a minute and came back to this...

Really???!!!  I didn't even have them all sorted yet, and I had to break out the lint roller! 

And, speaking of Quilter's Station - she also ordered some more jewelry - here is a sneak peek of her order...

And closer...

So if you see anything that you can't live without - make sure to go visit Quilter's Station! 

I made a quick trip to Burlington the other day and stopped in at Ellen's Quilting Corner while I was in town.  I found a couple of small prints that will make good jewelry - look at those tiny stars...

On Sunday I decided that I better get some of my book work finished, and look at what great help I had with that...

 Notice that little white paw?  I think you all know who that belongs to.  Good thing I always keep my rotary cutters closed.  Again, I'm pretty sure she thinks she is helping  - maybe she can make my taxes go down?  Now that would be helpful!

That paw just makes me laugh.  And last, but not least...how do you think this will end?

Guaranteed - somebody (Callie) will decide to jump on someone else (CC).  CC will get all hissy - smack Callie and run away.  Callie will be the Queen Of The Chair and take a nap there, until I boot her out so I can sew!  Can you tell that I've got experience in the Callie vs CC cat fights?

I finally finished my latest quilt pattern.  It sure is easier to make the quilt itself than it is to write the instructions.  I will finish packaging them this morning - then I will list them on my website, and show the full pattern here.  For now, you get to see a little bit...

I know that's not very exciting, but that's all for now.

Have a great day!

Gotta win the GO! Baby!!!

I'm sure you've seen the GO! Cutters from Accuquilt - they are all the rage in the quilting world right now. Check them out on the Accuquilt website - there are lots of different dies and you can easily cut perfect shapes every time!  I have tried a bazillion times on different blogs to win a Go! Baby cutter, to no avail.  But...alas...there is yet another chance for me to win.  If you haven't been to Deb's blog...Threadgatherer... make sure you go and check it out.  I really shouldn't tell you - because it lessens my chances to win, but hey...you could at least go and read her blog!  She does some amazing things and was even recognized as one of the top blogs for 2011 in Quilter's Home magazine.

Deb has some pictures of the cool little projects she has made with her new GO! and they are very impressive!  I am trying to convince her that her pin cushion wants to live at my house, but so far, she doesn't seem sold on the idea!

And just so this post isn't totally picture-less...here are a few flowers DH brought in from the yard...

Aren't they pretty?  So colorful - I love them.

Have a great day!