Final Finish!

Quite awhile ago, I started showing my pieced tops as finishes - a kind of first-stage finish!  I decided that if I didn't show you then, you might never see them.  BUT...I actually have two more finishes...FINAL FINISHES!  Bindings done and everything!

The first one is Gathering Baskets, by the Woolen Needle, in Williamsburg, IA.

 The second is Dancing With the Stars by Planted Seed Designs.  I bought this pattern and kit at Country Sampler, in Spring Green, WI last year.

I'm excited to have them both finished!  They were machine quilted by Kym Ward of Reds Threads.  I wish you could see the quilting - she did an amazing job!

Speaking of amazing...check out my new owl!  I just love him!  He is made from driftwood, and I think Callie approves!  This is a creation of Laura Benge, of Whimsy Creations.  She makes a lot of really awesome stuff, which I get to see in person next Saturday at the Des Moines Farmer's Market - really looking forward to that.

Here are a few new pieces of jewelry that we finished awhile back.  Sorry about that big ol' glare.  Maybe someday I will learn how to take better pictures, but don't bet on it!

I've talked about Kim from Kimmykats blog before, but you've got to go see what she has done now.  Last fall when we got together and went to Junk Jubilee (also in Des Moines) she bought a couple of my pendants.  I knew that her plan was to add her own touch to at least one of them, and now she has done it.  I LOVE IT!  She is so talented.  I'm hoping she will teach me a few of her tricks (she could teach me a thing or two about photography too!).


And last, but not least, this is how Ozzie spends his days...

He has such a rough life!

Have a great Labor Day and a wonderful week!

The Not-So-Ugly Quilt

Do you remember the quilt that I was working on that my husband was less than thrilled with?  He is smart enough to not come out and say it's ugly, but I think that is what he thought!  I think his comment was..."it's kind of bright"!  I guess he is used to seeing all of my projects in dark fabrics, so maybe this was just a little shocking (trying to give him the benefit of the doubt!).  Anyway, the quilt is finally finished and ready to go to its new home.

Not ugly at all!  I kind of like it, even if it is brighter than my norm!

Have a great weekend!

A New Baby in the House!

Who would have thought that at my age I would have a new baby?  Haha - nobody would have thought that, that's who!  Some of you probably think that I broke down and got a new kitten.  But no...Callie and Ozzie are plenty to handle right now.  So just who/what is the new baby?  She's a beauty, that's for sure!

A new Viking! And it's RED!!  My favorite color...how could I resist?  I love my old Viking machine - it's a Quilt Designer, and I would never give it up.  But...I gave into temptation and bought another one!  I looked at this machine a few months ago.  It is a Tribute 140C - and is a 140th Anniversary model.  The anniversary was last year, which means that I got a good deal on this machine. I really had no intention of buying another sewing machine, because there is nothing wrong with mine, and I really do love it.  In my opinion, Viking machines have some amazing features that just aren't available with other brands.  The sensor system is one of them and it sure makes my life easier when I'm piecing tiny jewelry.  No presser foot to be constantly putting manually up and down.  It is all automatic, you just push on the gas pedal and go!  Another thing that I like about the newer Vikings is that all of the stitches are built in.  My other machine uses stitch cards, which I recently found out do not last forever.  The card with the 1/4" stitch no longer works, which is why I was visiting the sewing machine store in the first place.  I can still stitch with 1/4", it's just not as convenient as it was when that card was in working order.  By the way, I bought this machine in Burlington, IA, from Alice at the Sew N' Sew Shop.  She has taken really good care of me and my machine over the years.

I couldn't wait to get home and play with my new toy.  It is really very similar to my old machine, but there are a few buttons in different places, which takes a little time to get used to.  Now I want to make something to use some of my fancy stitches, but not sure what that will be yet.

In the mean time, I'm working on the same things as always - more jewelry.  When I introduced this different size (1" x 1 1/2") a month or so ago, I sold out of them pretty quickly, which is always a good sign and reason to make more!  Here are just a few (with some other pieces mixed in)...

The pieces below are made from Glory Gatherings fabrics by Primitive Gatherings.  I've had a bundle of these fabrics for awhile, but just hated to break into them - they were such a pretty stack!  Does anyone else do that?  Geesh - I buy them to use, not to look at!  I do really like how these turned out.  I love a good stripe!

 And a scissor fob with Glory Gatherings (I dirtied up that tan stripe with Instant Antique!)...

That's all for now.  I have some quilts to show you, but will save that for another day!

Have a great week!

A quick catch up!

 Not much new going on here..been plugging away on jewelry...

 Finished up the final charm in Charming 1 (those centers are teeny, tiny little pumpkins - NOT tomatoes, Cindy P!)...

 Was visited by the Granddoggers...

Helped out by Callie...

Ozzie keeps busy hiding from Callie and cat-napping...

That sums up my life - what's going on with you??

Have a great day! (We are currently having a nice, soft, much needed rain here in Iowa!).

Road Trip!

Many of you probably have already seen the blogs of Missie (Hallbrook Designs), Kathy (Kindred Quilts). and Carolyn (Lee Prairie Designs) - so you know about our super fun road trip on Saturday.  Well, as usual...I did not take pictures (told Kathy I would be "borrowing" some of hers!) - so please go check out their posts to see some inspiring pictures of the shops we visited.

We met at The Woolen Needle, in Williamsburg, IA.  I hadn't been there for quite awhile and was pleasantly surprised by the changes they have made there - they opened up one of the back rooms so the shop is bigger now, and they also moved things around and it just seems a lot more open and lighter than it used to.  It's such a great shop - they have SO MUCH WOOL!  Of course, a big pile came home with me.  I forgot to take a picture (shocking, I know) of my wool purchases, but I re-organized my stash closet and got my wool all stacked nice and neat (it was just all piled together before) - so I will show you a picture of that. The first one is a basket of smaller pieces - aren't they pretty?

Here are the 2 stacks of wool, with the basket on top.  My wool stash is growing!

 This is a box full of recycled wool - some of those in the back are the ones I played with on Kool-Aid dye day.

Not only did I shop hop with friends on Saturday, I also ordered some wool online last week from The Old Tattered Flag - aren't these nice?  And the patriotic ones came in that nice patriotic basket.

 Here are the cotton fabrics that found their way home with me on Saturday...

 Gotta love those reds...and stripes - I am on a stripe-kick for sure.  You can't really tell from this picture, but I already hit the light/red stripe with Instant Antique and it looks awesome.

 And some blacks (and more stripes!).  When I make jewelry using the log cabin design, I love putting in a stripe or two - I just think it adds a lot of interest.  And some blacks with a little color (and what could be better than red?) also spruces them up.

Some log cabin pieces to prove my point...

See those little stripes, checks and interesting prints?  I think they really add to it.

Sorry...got side tracked - back to Saturday. We left Williamsburg and stopped in Kalona - visited 2 shops there and had a little bit of lunch. While in Kalona, we were visited by another blogger friend of mine...Kim of KimmyKats - I LOVE her jewelry - so check out her blog and her Etsy shop too!  We had already had snacks, because Carolyn baked cookies and brought them along for the trip!  Then we were off to Inspirations, in Hills, IA.  I know you have heard me talk about this shop - I just love it there.  She has the best fabrics, and is the nicest person.  It's always fun to visit!  I'm so happy for her - she is now one of Quilt Sampler's Top 10 shops - she really deserves that honor.  After we were finished shopping, Nancy let us use her huge classroom upstairs to chat and have a little show and tell.  I took my Summertime quilt top and this little guy...

Lisa gave me this little kit at spring market last year and I never got around to putting it together.  Well, after some taunting from Janet O, I decided (on the 4th of July) that I needed to work on a little patriotic quilt!  It probably won't get quilted for awhile, but it's hanging on my design wall so I can see it.

There was lots of good show and tell, but my favorite things is Kathy's Moravian star (pic stolen from Carolyn!)

I watched (on her blog) as she made this and was just amazed, and asked her to bring it.  All I can say is WOWZA!!  It is so, so cool.  I really want one...tried to steal this one...but she had her eye on me!  I'm hoping that she decides to teach a class on it, because I will be the first to sign up.  It is just amazing!  

And, even though we were not supposed to do gifts...look what Kathy gave each of us (she said we made that rule too late!)...

Love this little table topper and it's my favorite colors - just perfect!  She also gave us a spool of Aurifil thread and a General's marking pencil - again...just perfect - I will definitely put all of these things to good use.

We really did have a great day - it all went too fast - can't wait until we can get together again!

Don't forget to go back to the top of this post and follow the links to the other blogs - there are pictures of some of the shops - major eye candy!!

Have a great day!

Make it Dirty!

I'm talking about your fabric (for all of you who went somewhere else.)!  I am working on jewelry today and for some reason, none of my fabric is quite the shade I need, so out came the trusty Instant Antique.  I LOVE THIS STUFF!!!!

If you haven't ever used it, you should give it a try - you can get it from Primitive Gatherings website.

Yep...my fabrics are all perfect now.  My fingers are brown (must have gotten a little carried away!), but it is worth every little stain.  The cats better look out - they could get antiqued if they get in the way!

Have a great day!

Charming 2

We have had tons of people ask about a second year of "Charming" - our charm bracelet program that started last year.  So, here it is - you can sign up now - remember, there are limited spaces in the program (because we can only make so many without going bonkers!) - so if you are interested, don't delay!

We are pleased to introduce….

“Charming 2”

A fun program featuring tiny, paper pieced charms.

(This is a sample only – actual charms in the program will vary)

The Program: This is a 12 month program - you will receive charms bi-monthly, with a total of 6 charms.  To start the program, you will purchase the bracelet and the first charm.  Every other month you will receive a new charm to add to your bracelet.  For those people who participated in the first Charming program, these charms will be all new, so you can sign up for a second year and add to your charm bracelet!

The Details:  These cute little charms are just ¾” in size.  Bracelet length is the standard 7 ¼” - we can make it longer, upon request.

The Rules:  The program will start in October, 2013.  Charms will be mailed out the first week of October and bi-monthly after that.  Again, this is a 12 month commitment – please sign up only if you intend to stay in for the entire program.

The Price:  The cost of the bracelet is $10.00 and the charms are only $16.50 each! For every new charm I will send an electronic invoice payable via credit card or PayPal. 

Added Fun:  As a fun bonus, you will also receive a matching 6” paper piecing pattern with each new charm so you can make a small quilt that matches your bracelet.

Sign Me Up!: Don’t delay - there are limited spaces available, so sign up now to be included in this fun program.  Charming 2 will be offered on my website for a limited time only – to sign up go to:  www.meandmystitches.com and purchase Charming 2 under the “Go Shopping” tab.  

New Stuff

I'm working on jewelry today and thought I would share a few pictures.  These are new shapes - they are 1" wide by 1 1/2" long.  What do you think (ignore the glare on the glass!)?

 And these are just a few others that I finished today.

More later!!

Strawberry time, Summertime and some jewels!

The weather here in Iowa has been beautiful all week - love the temperatures in the 70's and not a lot of humidity.   I would like to place an order with Mother Nature to just continue this for the next several months!  Oh, and if she could take the bugs somewhere else, that would be even better.  With this nice weather comes strawberry picking...

 And pie making...

Both of these are really easy - the strawberry chiffon has jello and cool whip, and the strawberry glaze will have cool whip on the top.  They both have disappeared already and yesterday I made strawberry shortcake.  And now there are more strawberries waiting to be picked, so it's time to come up with another recipe.

And look what I "finished".  It still needs to be quilted, but it is all pieced together!  This is a terrible picture, it's not nearly this bright, but you get the idea.

And I thought I would share some jewelry pictures.  There are some new things on my website, so take a look...

Now I'm off to pick some strawberries!

Have a great weekend!

Summertime, some charms and a grand dogger!

Do you remember when I purchased the Summertime kit from Primitive Gatherings?  It was at the Des Moines AQS show in 2011.  A friend and I each bought the kit and our plan was to get together monthly to work on it, that way we would push each other to actually finish it.  Yeah, well...it was a great idea, but my friend is way too busy and we got together TWICE!  We've talked about it several more times, but she just has a lot going on.  Believe it or not, I have actually worked on my blocks sporadically, but now...I am almost finished!  Here are my blocks on my design wall

Woo hoo!!!!  I actually do have the 12th block all stitched, but I haven't trimmed it yet.  Now I just have to decide on the fabric for the sashing and borders.  What was included in the kit is confusing me (imagine that!).  I think I'm going to change it up a bit from the kit, and I'm hoping to work on it this week.  I don't want this one to sit as a pile of blocks, like so many others.  Am I the only one who does that?  I have piles of blocks that are all finished and just need to be sewn together.  Why do I not just finish them?  I guess if I do then they will just sit in the "need to be quilted" pile!  I do have 3 quilts at 2 different quilters right now, so that is a good thing.

For those of you in the Charming program, I hope you have received your newest charm - if not...don't look at this next picture!

 My U.S. customers received the flags, and all international customers received the pineapples - a few of them are below...

If you remember, I was in Omaha on Mother's Day, so I got together with my mom last week.  We went for lunch and I bought her a big hanging basket of begonias.  I'm not usually a begonia person, but I really thought these were pretty.  And, on Mother's Day (when I was gone!) my son came to my house and left a huge basket of flowers in my sewing room for me.  Here they are hanging on the deck...

Aren't they pretty?  And, my daughter took me to lunch at a really yummy Mexican restaurant.  So...even though I wasn't here for "the" day - there was still lots of celebrating!

And what is a post without a fluffy?  Well, this time there is a fluffy that you haven't seen before!  This is Jada  - she is one of my grand doggers.  She has a sister, Lexi, but she didn't pose for the picture. I should have gotten a picture of them both - my daughter has taught them to sit really nice for the camera.  Isn't Jada cute?  She is such a sweet little dog.  Although, Ozzie and Callie fail to see that sweetness! 

 And some wildlife - I don't know how well you can see the geese, but there are 5 babies swimming between the mom and dad.  I just love watching them - the parents are always on the lookout and really get moving if the dogs or anything else starts coming their way.

 And the last wild animal for the day!  Miss Callie trying to help me iron.  I thought this was funny, because CC used to always do this, but Callie never did, until now.

Have a great weekend!