A small finish, a party and a cat or two

It seems I haven't been posting much - but I've been super-busy with orders ever since the newest issue of Love of Quilting hit the stands.  But, I did have a small finish from a couple of weeks ago that I thought I would share with you.

Looks like I should have done some editing - but you get the idea.  This was part of a Jo Morton club that I did a few years ago (yes...I said YEARS), but I didn't get around to quilting it until now.  What's even worse is that I started quilting it at least a year ago when my Mom and I went to Rocherster, MN.  Obviously I just didn't work on it very often.  I finally decided to take some time (only about 30 minutes, for heavens sakes!) and finish it up.  It didn't take long at all to finish the hand quilting and make a little binding for it - it's only about 12" square!  But, a finish is a finish, right?

Another thing that I've been meaning to blog about is a fun party that my friend, Crystal and I went to awhile back at our friend Starla's house.  Her sister is a Jordan Essentials representative.  Have you tried their products?  If not, you need to!  I LOVE THEM!   At the party we used the salt scrub for our feet (Starla's husband promised that he would rub our feet, but backed out when we showed up!) and the shea butter and the lotion bar.  They are all wonderful - I bought one of each.  Laura gave me some samples of other products and so far, I have liked them all.  Here is her table all set up with the products...

And here is our very gracious hostess Starla (she will not be happy about this pic!)...

She slaved over a hot stove and made us lots of yummy snacks - no pictures of that, we must have been too eager to dig in.

Here is Miss Laura - our consultant...look how hard she is working calculating all of those orders!

And here is my little friend, Alexis - she is soooo funny.  There were a whole bunch of samples that you could smell to decide which scent you wanted - Alexis, Crystal and I smelled them together.  There was one that was "For Kids" - here is Alexis modeling that one...

 And here she is giving it a whiff...can you tell she likes it?!

 And here she's just being cool...

She was so funny - it's nice to have entertainment at the party!  And this is what happened at the end, after Laura worked so hard presenting and completing the order forms...

A well-deserved nap!  These really are great products, so if you get the chance to go to a party - do it!  I have already ordered more for Christmas gifts.

And lastly...I know I haven't shown any kitty pictures for awhile.  I actually think that Callie has grown up - she is not the wild maniac that she used to be.  She still has her moments, but it's not all day long anymore. Here is Ozzie in a rare show of playfulness (usually he just sits around and begs for food!)...

 I really didn't think he could get his big butt in the box, but he did!

 PEEK!!!!

 And you know, that Callie couldn't let Ozzie be the star of the show...she had to be in on the action too.  "Hmmmm....what have we here...I think I shall bite this tail!"

Always entertaining! 

Now, back to work.  Hope you all have a great day!

Surprises!

Ok, by now you all know that I love presents and surprises, right?  Well, the day that I left for Florida, my blogging friend, Candace from Squash House Quilts blog, sent out a plea for a piece of Halloween fabric.  You have seen pictures of my stash, and you probably know that the likelihood of me having novelty or seasonal prints or really anything other than Civil War reproductions fabrics, for that matter, is pretty slim.  But...the one she was looking for was orange with black cobwebs, and I actually had it!  I used it one year to make those toilet paper pumpkins!  So - I was in a huge hurry - only a couple hours until we had to leave to catch our flight - so I just shoved all that I had in an envelope and left it for DH to mail when I was gone.  I told her that I didn't want paid for it - I was probably never going to use it anyway - it was a good way for me to lessen my stash by a yard or so.  Forgotten.  Until....I got a big ol' box o' stuff in the mail from one Candace!  Definitely not necessary, but appreciated - cuz it was just like Christmas!  Take a look at all these great things...

First...a very cute card!

A cute little bag of candy corn.  Candace said this was made by someone locally - which is cool - can't imagine making candy corn.

Very cute kitty basket.  I had to chase CC and Callie away from it several times.  I turned my back once and Callie was already chewing on it!  Grrrr!!!!  But, I think the "new" has worn off of it and they are leaving kitty alone now.

Two big bars of awesome soap - also made locally.  These smell soooo good and I am already using one of them - love it!


And last, but certainly not least...

An adorable mug rug, made by none other than Miss Candace herself!  Isn't it just too cute?  I love it and it is sitting right here beside my computer.  Such a fun box of goodies - thank you so much Candace - I really do love them all!!

I know that I promised pictures of the wedding, but Jessica has not sent them to me yet!  Here are a few of mine - they are not great, but better than nothing!
Here is my niece, Johnna - I can't believe how grown up she looks.  She is walking with the groom's brother.

 Here's the bride and groom (Emma and Andres)

 And Emma with her daddy (my big brother) - I think he's having more fun than she is!

 Again, not the best pictures, but all I have for now.

Now on the jewelry front...since the magazine hit the newsstands, I have had quite a few orders - which is awesome!  So, if there are specific items that you have had your eye on - you better order them now, before someone else does.  Some things will always be available, like the scrappy pineapples, pumpkins, scrappy log cabins, but understand that they may not be the identical fabrics that are pictured on the website .  I will always be happy to make special orders as well - if you like a certain pattern, but would prefer a different color.  We aim to please, you know!

Now I've got to get my nose to the grindstone!

Have a great day!!

Hexagons

I've been thinking for a long time now that I want to try hexagons, and as you will remember, I did make ONE hexagon flower after a little tutorial and sample pack while at the Galena Quilt Show.  Then, my friend Kim sent me some Paper Pieces of different sizes and I settled on making the 3/8" size.  I took them to Florida with me and actually did make a few one evening while we were all sitting around gabbing.  Then last Friday I attended the AQS show in Des Moines (and did not take ANY pictures!) and was inspired all over again.  On Sunday I decided to take the day off from jewelry making and worked on my hexies!  Here is the result...

It's only 6 1/2" long and it took me HOURS to sew it together (the hexies were already made)!  What the heck?  Any tips to speed things up would be appreciated!  But I do like it.  I'm thinking of making a small wall hanging and framing it like Yellow Creek Quilt Designs did - check out their website to see theirs - they have 2 different sizes and they are both wonderful.


I'm waiting for my daughter to send me some of her pictures from Florida before I post more about that (see how I took that weight off my shoulders and put it on hers!?).  I will share one thing - while in Florida we visited Quilt Lover's Hangout in North Ft. Myers.  What a great shop - they were recently in the Top 10.  I had been there a few years ago and it seemed like it was even better this time around.  They have everything - even wool - which surprised me since you would never need wool for warmth in Florida!  They purchased a bunch of my jewelry too, which is awesome.  They even put a blurb on their website under "New Arrivals".    If you ever have the chance to visit them, be sure to do it.

Have a great day!!

Exciting News!

You all know that I love Marty the Mail Lady, right?  She brings me the best packages and I LOVE to get presents in the mail!  Today she brought me a nice little envelope from Fons & Porter, which contained 2 complimentary copies of the November/December 2011 issue of their Love of Quilting magazine.  Why would I receive complimentary copies, you ask?  Because I'm special?  Nope - probably not! Could it be that I'm the new editor of the magazine.  Uh...I don't think so!  It's because they reviewed my jewelry in the Shop Hop section of this issue!  It should be hitting the newsstands in the next couple of weeks...be sure to grab a copy of your own.  Here is the cover you need to look for...

And if you turn to page 10, you will see this...

I'm so excited! 

Have a great day!!

Fun in the Sun

I'm soooo behind on blogging -  I haven't read many nor updated my own.  So...here we go!  This is what was going on at my house the day I left for Florida (keep in mind it was a Sunday)...

Yes, that says Plumbing - never a good truck to have sitting in your driveway, but especially not on a Sunday.  Sure glad I was able to get a warm shower before it all went bad!  And being gone for a week, there was only one person taking chilly showers, and it was not me!  Poor DH!


We had a great time in Florida - but boy it was hot and humid.  I think I would rather visit there in February - but, my niece, Emma wanted to get  married in September.  She lives in Florida and my brother and his wife also have a house there - so we all got to stay at the Latty Hotel.  So much fun!  Here are some pics of their house - it is wonderful...

 I guess I didn't take pictures of the other 2 bedrooms or the bathrooms or even the living room (what was I thinking?)- but you get the idea - nice digs, huh?  Sure beats staying in a hotel!  And to make things even better...there were quilt blocks in the tile in several places.  This was in one of the bathrooms...

This one is right inside the front door in the entry way.

 Isn't it cool?!

 This was in the shower!

The down side is that there was no wi-fi - so Jessica and I spent a lot of time in McDonald's parking lot...sometimes in our jammies!  Nobody seemed to notice or care, but I seriously think I watched a drug deal going down one night.  Finally on the day before we left we sweet-talked the neighbor into sharing his wi-fi (and rewarded/bribed him with cookies).  Next time we will know to go visit Jack the first day with snacks.

I'm going to cut this short and will share wedding pictures next time!

Have a great day!

Cedar Rapids Quilt Show

Cedar Rapids, IA has a wonderful quilt show every other year - and this is the year.  I've been to it twice before, and it's always a nice show.  Now, before you read on...remember my lack of photography skills.  And, I leave for Florida tomorrow, and do not have time to mess around and edit these already-poor-quality pictures - so enjoy the quilts, and ignore the photo quality!  When you first enter the show there is  a display of quilts by two different featured quilters. 



 

The only picture that I got of Alice's is the Dear Jane in the background.  The following are quilts by Featured Quilter, Elaine Sondag - be prepared - they are wonderful!

Dear Jane quilts always just amaze me - this one is exceptional - wonderful piecing and hand quilting - amazing!
The rest of the pictures are miscellaneous quilts throughout the show - all very nice!

 The following pineapple quilt won best of show. 

So much inspiration!

Have a great day!