Winning!

Did you think of Charlie Sheen when you read the title of this post?  So glad that he is not on the news being a freak.  I guess it's Randy Travis' turn now!  

Anyway...I've been quite lucky on giveaways lately.  Monday I had the best mail day ever!  I received all of this...

Now that is a great giveaway!  Look at all of these treasures!  These are from Valerie at The Wooden Acorn.  I love her blog and she is giving away lots of good stuff.  I can't wait to put some of these treasures to good use.  

Also in the mail on Monday...

I purchased this little gem from the AAQI.  If you are not familiar with this organization - be sure to follow the link and learn more.  My Grandma had Alzheimer's and it was not fun to deal with.  AAQI has raised tons of money for research and you can help by purchasing quilts, or making and donating small quilts.  Lori from Humble Quilts has donated many quilts to AAQI.  The three most recent were pieced by Kathie at Inspired by Antique Quilts  and quilted and bound by Lori.  I am so happy to have this little quilt!  I follow both of their blogs, so it makes this even more special.

Also in the mail on Monday was Block 11 of my summer block of the week from Primitive Gatherings.  I can't believe the program is almost over already.  And even more surprising is that I have almost kept up!  DH and I watched Hunger Games last weekend and I stitched the entire time, so I really felt like I accomplished something.  Here are the last 2 blocks that I finished (hope you are not sick of seeing these!).

Yep...I still love them!  And the good news for anyone who loves these, but didn't get signed up...Primitive Gatherings is going to offer this as a block of the month!  So, if you love them as much as I do, you better be watching their website so you can get signed up.  I bet it will sell out quickly.

And last - I took a couple nights off from stitching my BOW and worked on the Non Farmer's Wife blocks...

Now I am only 3 behind!  I wish I could capture the true color of the background I am using.  It is a Primitive Gatherings muslin - one of the darker ones (I can't ever remember which one!) and it is so warm and yummy, but it just doesn't show up in any of my pictures. . And, that blackish light print?  It is a Jo Morton fabric that I darkened up with my Instant Antique - love that stuff!  It now matches my background fabric perfectly!

So that is all for now - other than that I have been working, working, working on CHARMS!  Holy cow - I think I should have closed that program a little sooner.  I am going to be up to my ears in charms for the next year!  But I am very thankful to everyone who ordered and I think it's going to be a fun year.

Have a great weekend!

Quilt Show and new pattern

I haven't been to a quilt show for quite awhile so when I found out that Kathleen Tracy was going to be at the show in Galesburg, IL, I called my Mom to see if she wanted to go with me.  We almost didn't make it - Mom wasn't feeling the best, but decided she felt well enough for a little road trip.  Of course, you know me...I didn't take any pictures.  I really have got to get better about that!  The show was at Carl Sandburg College which was a nice large venue.  The quilts and vendors were spread out over 2 different floors and there were plenty of quilts to look at.

It's always fun to see all of the quilts, but I have to say that the highlight for me was Kathy's booth.  It was so awesome to see all of her miniature quilts and to meet her - she has such great patterns and I love all of her fabric choices.  She had some cute little doll beds, all covered in quilts -  so much eye candy.  She spied my pineapple pendant, so one thing led to another and she ended up buying a few pendants of her own!  And she wrote a really nice blog about me.  And even posted a very scary picture!  I told her that she could only post it if she made me look young, thin and beautiful, but that didn't seem to happen. She DID take some pictures of the quilts at the show, so be sure to go take a look at her post. And she also gave me permission to share this picture of her - you can see a few of her wonderful quilts...

If you don't have all of her books, you need to get them!  You can order from her website.  I have certain quilt books that I really like to browse through over and over again, and hers are definitely on that list.

Speaking of quilts...do you remember my new pattern from my last post?  The name remained "Ozzie's Baskets" and here is the picture that I went with for the cover...

I finished packaging them all last night and loaded them on my website this morning - so they are officially on sale now!  I even sold a couple this morning - so that is always a good thing.

I hope you are all having the wonderful weather that we have here in the midwest.  It is nice and cool  - great to have the windows open again!

Have a great weekend!

Blocks and cats

I'm still trying to keep somewhat caught up on my Primitive Gatherings Summer Block of the Week - here are my latest finishes...

I have 2 more prepped and ready to go and started stitching on one of them last night.  I am still trying to work on them a little bit every evening - it doesn't always happen, but when it does it is amazing how much you can get done in a short amount of time.

While I have been busy, busy, busy...this is what the cats do half the day...

 It's amazing that they are all laying on the same bed - but funny that they all keep their space instead of curling up together.  If you enlarge the above picture, you will see that Callie is sticking her tongue out at me! And Ozzie just cracks me up.  Yes...that is my pillow that he has his head on.  They just make me laugh!  What a rough life they have!

Have a great day!!

Ozzie's Baskets

When I was at Market a few months ago, I saw a really unique, antique basket quilt .  I would have loved to have owned that quilt, but it was not in my budget!  But, it had my wheels turning and I just couldn't quite get it out of my head.  So....I decided it was time to design another quilt.  Problem is...I really didn't have time.  Therefore, it is just a small quilt - only 21" x 21".  It is not on my website yet - I'm still waiting to get the pictures back from the printer, but it will be out soon, and I thought I would share it here now.  If you read my blog very often, you know that Ozzie is our big orange tabby cat.  He likes to sleep in a basket in my sewing room closet...hence the pattern name.  It's so funny, because I always know when he is in there because I can hear him snoring!  I wanted him to be on the pattern cover, since the quilt is named for him, but he was NOT being agreeable at all on the day of the photo shoot!  I tried everything - coaxing him with treats didn't even work.  The picture is not how I wanted it to be, but I think it is going to have to do.  Of course, Miss Callie wanted to be involved, and being her nosy little self, she didn't hesitate to get in on the fun.  Here are a few of the pictures...which do you like best?

Ozzie...

Callie...

I guess I should quit worrying about the feline models and worry about the quilt!

On another note, I have decided to leave my charm bracelet program open until August 15th.  It is available now on my website, but will NOT be available after August 15th.  So, if you are interested, sign up now before it's too late!

Have a great day!

Feline Friday

This is Callie's idea of helping...

To see more felines on this fine Friday, go visit Sarah's blog.  Link up if you want to share your helpers too!

I finished my SBOW #5 and started stitching on #6.   #8 should show up in my mailbox today.

Have a great weekend!

All in a Day's Work (or a month or two!)

I have a couple of shows coming up this Fall, and have just been working to build up my inventory for those. My website only has 100 slots, so there are many pieces aren't listed on it.  I wanted to show one of my wholesale customers some of these pieces, so I thought since I took the pictures that I would share them here as well.  If you ever want something but don't see it on the website, always ask!  I'm more than happy to make special orders and I always have some jewelry on hand that isn't listed on the site.  There's a lot of glare on these but you get the idea.

 Wow - that orange and pink sticks out like a sore thumb - obviously not my normal color scheme!!

The only other thing that I've worked on is my Summer Block of the Week:

This is block #4.  I have #5 almost finished and 6 and 7 are prepped and ready to go.  Yep...still lovin' these blocks!

That's all for now - hope you all have a great day!

New blocks and a helper

I caught up with my Non Farmer's Wife blocks - just a day before the new ones should be posted (nothing like being caught up for a few hours!).  Lucky for me, Randy has been too busy to post more, so I've been caught up for DAYS!

I finished stitching my third summer block of the week...

Yep...still in love with each and every one of these!  I received number 5 yesterday in the mail, and got the pattern all traced and all of the wool pieces cut out.  I thought I would attach them to the background this morning.  As I'm drinking my coffee, I notice that CC is chewing on something...that's right...it's one of my wool applique pieces!  Grrrrr!  I managed to get it away from her all in one piece, with a minimal amount of cat slobber.  And just to show you what a big helper she is - this is what happens when I try to press a pile of strips - she wouldn't move, so I attempted to work around (over) her!

In typical cat-fashion - you can see that she could care less.  I love how she is looking at me like....what...am I in your way?!?!?

Now I'm off to get that applique steamed on before she eats something else!

Have a great weekend!

Stitching

When I signed up for Primitive Gathering's summer block of the week, I knew that I would not keep up with it, but Lisa encouraged me to get the blocks prepped each week.  Sometimes I think that takes longer than the actual stitching!  But, I followed her advice (so far!) and have been prepping them as they come.  I've also been stitching some in the evenings, and am pleased to say that the first 2 blocks are finished.

I love these blocks.  Even though I needed another project like I need another hole in my head, I don't regret signing up for this one!  I just love the wools that she has chosen for these.

I'd like to say that I'm spending all my time stitching, but business has to come first!  I've been busy making jewelry.  I've had a steady stream of orders (which is always good!) and the new "Charming" program is going over really well.

I haven't closed the program yet - so if you want to sign up, there is still time.  I have a couple of shows coming up this Fall, so we are trying to continue building a good inventory for those.  Here are a few things we finished last week...

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July.  It was a quiet one here - too hot to do much of anything outside.  I should go pick some green beans, but I think they will wait another day!

Have a great day!

Wildlife

I thought I would share pictures of some visitors we've had lately - and they are not of the human kind.  We knew the mommy goose would be having babies any day - it is always so fun when they come out of the box and swim around with the mom and dad.  I love watching them - they are just so cute!

There are 6 babies...see them toddling along?  Now they are off for a little swim...

Then they disappeared!  We have been told that they don't stay where they are born, because other animals can smell them and will try to have them for supper (YIKES!).  I sure wish they would stay - I would love to watch them grow up.  But guess what?  A couple of weeks later they came back!

I can't believe how much they've grown.  They didn't stick around long - but at least we did get to see them again.

Now we are in full hummingbird mode. We usually have a couple of hummingbirds each summer, but this year there are a few more.  It's always hard to know just how many, they move so darned fast.

 

I love watching them.  DH hung a feeder outside of both of my windows in my sewing room - so they buzz back and forth between the two.  Every once in awhile, they are outside my window just looking in!  Of course, that gets the cats all riled up!

And here is what the indoor wildlife is up to...(Gee, I don't know why there is fur on all my fabric!)

And while I was on the floor taking a picture of Callie, I thought I would take one of all those yummy fabrics above me!  Love them all!

I was going to go pick green beans this morning, but Mother Nature has blown in a storm so I guess I will just stay in the house.  I don't know about you, but I am really tired of this heatwave already and it doesn't sound like it's going away anytime soon.  According to the forecast we will be in the 90's and even a little over 100 degrees all week long.  YUCK!  Bean picking will have to happen in the early mornings!

Have a great week!