One more block and a silly cat

I haven't been working on much except for jewelry, but I did piece one more of my NFW blocks...

I think the moment that I finished this one, Randy sent out instructions for one more, and a note saying that there will be three more this Wednesday!  How can it be time for more already?!  So I guess I better get busy and make the next two - one is cut out and ready to sew, so that shouldn't take too long.

While I was busy with the above block, Callie was being her silly self...Hiding behind my design wall...

Still hiding, but wanting to play...

I don't know what it is, but she loves to be behind doors!  She usually wants you to play through the crack, but then she gets lazy and lays down and wants you to play under the door.  What a goof!

Have a great Sunday!!

Still Winning!

I was really on a winning streak for awhile (me and Charlie Sheen) - I won this awesome book from Dawn Heese from Linen Closet Quilts...

Doesn't the cover just make you want to look closer?  I can't believe that I won this!  The projects are really inspiring, and I was already a big fan of Dawn's designs.  Be sure to check out her blog and get a copy of her latest book - it really is a good one!

We have finally finished up the first month of charms for "Charming" - our brand new charm bracelet program. They are all shipped, and if you haven't received yours yet, you should be getting it very soon.  Below is a picture of some of the charms - I think it was about 3/4 of the total orders.  Each of these are 3/4" in size...

 I've got some of the next release done - I probably better get back on track for those.  Also, thanks to some of you, I sold out of pumpkin pendants and scissor fobs last week!  I am working on more today.

And speaking of pumpkins - Simple Quilts magazine is now on the newsstands, I saw it at Wal-Mart over the weekend -

And a picture of my Lil' Punky pin cushion that is in this issue...

I've sold several of the magazines and kits (thanks to all of you!), and still have some in stock on my website, if you are interested.  And, be sure to check out Kindred Quilts blog...(we have an over-achiever on our hands!).  She bought the magazine and kit and has already whipped up Punky, and is working on four more! While you are there, sign up to be a Follower so you can see just how much she gets accomplished!

I also wanted to share my latest Non Farmer's Wife blocks...

Three down and just 2 to go - and they are all cut out and ready to sew - hopefully that will happen some time this week.

I had a great time at the Twilight Stitchers quilt show in Blue Springs, MO last weekend!  I didn't have time to take any pictures (you know I am sooo bad about that!) - but actually we barely had time to run through and look at the quilts.  The show went well, and I met lots of great people.  Now I have about a month to re-group before the next show in Lee's Summit. Really looking forward to that as well.  Now...I better get some pumpkins made!

Hope you all have a great day!

Poor Lil' Punky

Good Morning!  Here in Iowa we are headed into Fall – my favorite season.  I love the cooler temperatures and to see the leaves changing color.  Then there are some of the foods that I associate with the change of seasons - I made pumpkin bars last week, and have been thinking about different soups to make during the cooler days.  And, we can’t have Fall without having pumpkins!  A few months ago, “Simple Quilts and Sewing” magazine asked me to design a pin cushion for their fall issue - the first thing I thought of was a pumpkin.    My design is Poor Lil’ Punky” – isn’t he cute? So cute that you might hate to poke him with pins!

The magazine will not be out in the stores until the last week of September, but I was lucky enough to get some in advance.

There are lots and lots of fun projects in here – see those cute owls on the cover?  Adorable!  So many items to choose from – several bags, hot pads, a casserole carrier, stitcher’s caddy, quilts (of course!) and even some costumes for kids. 

The good news for all of you is…you can purchase this magazine NOW on my website!  AND…you can also buy a kit for Poor Lil’ Punky!  The kit includes everything you need (including the fabric for the  back and the muslin liner) to make the pin cushion, then you can choose your favorite filler when you finish.  A couple of the fabrics may vary from the picture above, but they will be very similar.  Remember, when ordering – the magazine and the kit are sold separately.  The pattern is in the magazine and is not sold alone or with the kit.

Of course, if you love fall like I do – you may want to buy yourself a little fall gift – maybe a little pumpkin pin, pendant, or scissor fob!

 They are also available online.  So…time to do your shopping!  Go to www.meandmystitches.com and see what you can find!

Have a great week!

Continued progress, a little bird watching and some fluffies

We are busy, busy with jewelry trying to get ready for the next show - it is in Blue Springs, MO - September 14th and 15th.  If you are in the area come and visit!

But, besides that, I have tried so hard to keep up on my Non Farmer's Wife blocks.  Finally I got caught up. And guess what?  There will be 3 new ones tomorrow.  So, yes, as usual, I'm caught up for about 2 days!  Here's my work - don't look too closely and don't judge me!  Lol

It does feel great to be caught up, even if it is only for a little while!

I also finished two more of my Primitive Gatherings SBOW - and yes...I can't help myself...I still love them!

I am now working on the 12th and final block, and can honestly say that I'm sorry it's almost over!  I haven't received the finishing kit yet but there will be plenty of stitching on it (so it's not really over yet!).

Another thing I've been working on...

Any guesses on what these are?  If you buy Simple Quilts Magazine, you will find out!  Actually I don't think it is supposed to be on newsstands until September 24th or 25th.  They have promised that I will have my copies before the show on the 14th - so they will be on sale in my booth with this kit available as well.  They will also be on my website if there are any left after the show.

We have also been doing a little (literally!) bird watching.  Every summer we normally have a couple of hummingbirds and always put out feeders for them. I think I remember at most having 4-6.  This year?  WOW!!!  Whole different story!  We have had between 30 and 40 hummingbirds!  It is insane.  I don't know where in the heck they are all coming from.  DH makes their food super sweet, so I assume that is the attraction.  They are so much fun to watch and every time we look out we are amazed at how many of them there are.  They just swarm around the feeders.  There are a few bullies in the bunch that choose a feeder and sit above it, then chase off anyone who comes there to feed.  Here are a couple of pictures - I wish we had some that showed more of them, but they are so hard to capture on camera.

 I think there are at least 10 in the picture below.  Amazing!

The kitties are quite interested in them as well - I think Callie has dreams of catching one!

As always while we work away, this is what the fluffies are up to (besides dreaming of birds)...

 Above is Callie - I was digging through my batting remnants in this crock and she didn't hesitate to jump in.  I think she looks like a chicken sitting on her eggs!

And then there's CC.  Doesn't she just look...indifferent to it all!?  She has taken over the ironing board, that pile of fabric AND the remote control!  Geesh!  I think it's easy to see who rules this roost!  Oh, and not to forget Ozzie - he is off sleeping in the closet!  Be sure to hop on over to Sarah's Feline Friday post to see what some other furry friends are up to!

Have a great week!

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!