November

In November, I am working on this quilt....still:( I still love the look and the quilt but I'm tired of the applique. This is what fits on my wall. I have 3 more rows done and I am working on a row now. I have to decide if I want to do two more rows or just love it like it is. I have a border picked out and will sash it in white.

At night I am working on this pillowcase.

and, as soon as I get done with my applique quilt, I have to get started on my niece Alexis' graduation quilt. That girl has been asking for a quilt for years and is sooo excitied. She gave me these circles for color inspiration. I have a few ideas but nothing solid right now. I am thanking myself for buying a Kona color card this year. It will sure help with picking some solids. A print might be harder to find.


Lastly, I am trying to get in some run/walking. Kelsey has been running at college and we ran together some this summer. We have entered our church's 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I am sure I will finish last but my goal is to be able to run the whole 3 miles....my large butt may have something to say about that!

Staying Busy

We all made it through Cade's first day of Middle School. He said that it was fun. He fell asleep moments after getting home! He just crashed! We had to wake him up for supper:)

He was not quite so excitied to get up for school this morning;)

Yesterday, I got a great comment from Judi

She said in her comment that I should bake an after-school treat for Cade. To take my mind off of worrying. I took her advice and Kelsey and I made sugar cookies for him. They were good and I enjoyed the time spent with my girl.

Speaking of my girl, I finished up her label and got it sewn onto her quilt. Now the quilt is packed up ready to go to college on Friday. She designed the label. She wanted the little squirrel because that is her sorority mascot.

Now, I need to hem up Cade's new karate uniform and maybe a little fun sewing later!

200th Post

WOW! I never thought I would reach 200 posts! I still remembering wanting to blog to have somewhere to show my quilts. I think that I must have bugged the fool out of poor Kristie. She was (and is) so sweet to answer all my "How do you?" questions.



Here is the label for my baby pinwheel quilt. I love making embroidered labels. I really need to find some better fonts though.
The cute daisy bouquet is from the Daisy pattern by big B. I love her patterns!

I am giving the quilt to the Soon to be Mommy tonight. Even though it's been a few years it seems like yesterday that I made their wedding quilt!

Today, I need to do some mopping, making some banana bread and maybe taking Cade to the pool before church. Cade is now a middle-schooler so he moves downstairs at church to the "big" kids. I'm not sure that I'm ready for that!

Everyone have a wonderful day!

Japan Embroidery

I finished my embroidery piece for the quilt that Mom Wald's Place is making for the earthquake victims in Japan. The theme is fruits/veggies. I put alot of pressure on myself to make this block perfect. Of course, it is not perfect. I did my best but faces sure arent my specialty. So why did I pick a pattern with faces on it?? Because it is so darn cute!! I found the sweet pattern on Flickr by the awesome member MMAAMMBR

I love her vintage patterns and find myself using them alot! I am so glad that Mary is doing this project and I am so glad to help out.

After finishing up my embroidery I decided to go check out the new Quilt Shop. It is called Sewn with Love. I know the owner from the quilt shop that I used to work at (she worked there a little while too) She has always wanted to own a shop and when the only quilt shop in town closed..this was her chance! It's a cute shop and she has some beautiful stuff! I didnt have my camera or I would have taken a few pics. To help her stay in business I bought some 1/2 yards and a fat quarter. I was surprised to find out that her FQ's are still $2.50. I was immediately drawn to all the large scale prints but I remembered that I have PLENTY of those at home so I tried to buy some blenders. I love the fabrics that I got!

Here are a few shots form Cade and Andy's adventure. The went to The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center. They loved it!!

This is the little chapel on base. They both want to go back!

Enjoy this day! I have to go to the grocery store then I HAVE to get a quilt basted!

Baby Quilt

I have been enjoying these pretty Spring Days that we are having here in Georgia! Also, my sweet girl Kelsey was home for Spring Break. It was so good to have her at home. With Andy and Joey working (and Joey treating this house like a hotel) I never got everybody home at the same time but it was a nice weekend anyway!

I finished piecing the Pinwheel Baby Quilt. I need to put the borders and prairie points on it but I took a picture anyway!

The pattern is by Jodi and found on Moda Bake Shop.

I am also getting ready to start another stitchery. You can read more about it here.

Flickr Stitch Along

I finished my Flickr Stitch Along piece. The group is the Flickr Group "New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns" The theme for this stitch along was Monday/Wash Day. This sweet pattern was posted by Flickr member Mmaammbr.

I think it is really cute! I love the Dutch Girl Patterns. Please note (but not too closely) my VERY FIRST BLANKET STITCH!!! It's the green grass. I hope to get a better picture of this piece tomorrow so that I can post it on Flickr!

Year of the Pigs

Jill's question for this week is "What makes you put a project to the side and start something else?" Hmmmmm! Good question Jill! I really had to think about this one! But, I didnt have to look far for an example.

Take a look at this picture please. It looks innocent enough. You can clearly see a Ninja BOM project in a hoop. Also, you can see an almost finished handquilted Halloween quilt. Harmless? HA! You can also see that the embroidery is being stitched and the Halloween quilt has been shoved to the back of the table and the cat has been sleeping on it!!

I had to go back and think as to why I decided to start another stitchery instead of working on my quilt that I really want finished. They are both handwork that I love to do. I can stitch both up while relaxing and watching tv. I only have a a little while to sew today so I can't finish either project.

I have come to the conclusion that I pushed this PIG to the side because I wanted to work on something new!! That's it...I just wanted a new project! I am really stressed right now. I won't get to my sewing room after today for over a week and I just wanted something new and fresh. I'm sure there are so many of us that love a project that we are working on but will push it aside to do something new.....do this a few times and the projects start to add up!!

So, I'm just going to spend the rest of the afternoon sewing my little Ninja and not feel too bad cause I know my Halloween quilt willl be there waiting for me!

Stitch Along

I finished my piece for the 5th Stitch Along for the Flickr group New Embroidery w/Vintage Patterns. The theme is Sunday/Rest/Church/Visiting. My pattern is from the always awesome Floresita.

I made it into a mini quilt/too big to be a pot holder. I love it!

Stitchings

I did these cute little stitchings for the owner of the Etsy shop Sweetness Abounds. I think they are adorable! The shop has really sweet patterns. I was a nervous wreck doing these. I really wanted to show off her cute patterns so I tried to make them with brighter floss. I tend to make my stitchings too light.

This is a sweet little bunny. I may make this into a pillow for my niece.

I love the faces on these two Honey Bunnies!

and 2 more Love Bunnies! I really thought about making the carrot in a chocolate brown...like he had given her a Valentine's gift.

After I finished this one, I went back and added french knots for the boy bunny's tail. Dark brown french knots don't show up well in pics. It didnt take as long as I had feared and turned out really cute. Cade had a friend over and they loved the tail. and kept mashing it:(

Today I am cleaning house and hoping to get back to quilting that Hallowen quilt!

Have a wonderful day!

Friday Night Stitching

Our schools were closed today too! That is fine by me. Our yard and driveway are still an icy mess. I am going to have to go out soon though, I am fixing our last real meal for supper tonight.

We have our Saturday Sewing at church tomorrow and I plan on getting out for that! I need some adult conversation! I will be taking some hand embroidery with me. I am testing some patterns for a lady that is opening an etsy shop. I am working hard and fast to get these stitchings done, and Cade was watching me doing a stem stitch. He said " I want to try" well, I am in a hurry but he was interested so I got ready to teach him but NO! He said that he knew how to do it! You can imagine that he didnt stitch too long! But, he looked so cute trying!

Waiting...

for the big ice storm that is rolling into Georgia.

Missing my sweet girl. I stitched this up for her apartment at college. She picked the colors out. She left today.
Pattern by the totally awesome Aimee Ray . Find the Doodle Stitch Along here

Ninja Embroidery

I wanted to share one of the CUTEST embroidery Block of the Month that I have ever seen!!
Kandra Young at MY LIFE is hosting a Ninja Block of the Month. Kandra did this AWESOME design and is offering it free on her blog. GO visit her blog, she is very talented and has a fun site!! My Kelsey LOVES Ninja's so I knew that I had to do this little stitchery!!

I can't wait to see next month's..and the next...and the next..and the next!!

Have a wonderful weekend! We are hoping for some snow, atleast enough to cancel school on Monday!

Stitching in the Snow

I wanted to show the pillowcase that I have been stitching in the evenings. I finished it up yesterday while watching it snow!

Catching Up

This has been a busy week! I had to go to the library everyday except for Wednesday. I had to use Wednesday for my "running around" day. Andy was off from work so that made it alot more fun! In between Kroger, Walmart and the Post Office I let him take me to the Quilt Shop! I had to pay for a class that I'm taking and found a few things to buy!;) I'm thinking of using the green with the daisys as the border for my string quilt.The class that I am taking is this Sat. It starts at 730am. It is a Pajama Day Quilt class!! I am taking it with 2 ladies from church. The quilt shop is planning a class, a fashion show and lot's of surprises! You can stay all day and sew! Andy was scheduled for the Fire Dept. that day but when I told him that I really wanted to go but needed someone to watch Cade, he took the day off!! I am very thankful to him. I told him that this could be my Christmas gift from him.

The shop is asking for everyone to come and sew in their pajamas! I usually sew in my pajamas but I had to buy a new pair to wear out in public! The bottoms that I got have snowflakes on them but the top is just a plain top. I think some embroidery will fix the top up just fine! Lucky me! I have the best SNOW embroidery pattern around! I got this from big B and it is just darling!

I have already been to church and since it's so cold today, I think that I will enjoy one of these and do a little sewing!

Have a great day!

Libby

My First Monogram

Here are my finished handmade and hand embroidered pillowcases!!! I'm pretty happy with them! They make me smile everytime I see them on my bed!

Here's a closer look. The monogram is from www.needlenthread.com

I'm already planning my next pair!

Saturday Sew In

After my FNSI was a fail, when my head finally cleared, I really wanted to sew! Husband was at the Fire Dept. so it was just me and Cade at home. He got busy playing outside with the dogs and playing a video game inside. I got busy making a set of pillowcases. This was the fabric that I washed Friday. I bought the floral fabric at Joann's last week. I LOVE it!! The colors are prettier in real life. (i know everyone says that) This fabric has a kinda vintage cool 60's look to it. I knew instantly that I wanted to make some pillowcases with it. If you are thinking "Man, Why did she stick that big ole white cuff on those cases?" I plan on doing some embroidery on the white cuffs. I'm thinking a monogram with some flowers! I'm really hoping that they turn out as nice as I think they will!

BTW...My neck is better...not so much shooting pain up into my head...which is a very good thing! I am sticking to ibuprofen and heat on my neck....no more muscle relaxers!
Have a great Monday!
Libby

Flickr Stitch Along

This is the little pattern that I stitched up for the September Flickr New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns Stitch Along!! The theme was "Wednesday/Sewing" On the old "Days of the Weeks" patterns, Wednesday was some kind of sewing or mending day.

This pattern came from the Flickr group Hoop Love Vintage Transfers. The member who posted it is Mmaammbr. This member has MANY amazing vintage patterns on her photostream!! I am so thankful that people are so kind to share!

This was so much fun! I really thought about making a bag or a dishtowel but I decided that I would really like to make a few more stitchery's in a sewing theme, put them in old hoops and hang them in my sewing room!

Now go to Flickr and check out all the wonderful embroidery!

Crafty

I thought that I would show the little sewing kit that I made for myself. I am sure that this is not a new idea but it was to me! I took a little gift card tin from Michaels and hot glued a magnet strip in the bottom of it. TA DA!! A perfect little container for needle, thread and my embroidery scissors!

Perfect for a little outside stitching!

Too bad our weather hasnt been perfect for outside stitching! We are still having hot humid up to the high 90's days! I am ready for Fall!

I have been very busy at Cade's school. The librarian, Mrs. Sherry, is starting another round of chemo so I am happy to fill in for her. But, I have been eating better and walking 60min everyday!! Even in this heat! I feel good and my clothes are fitting better! I am hoping to fit some sewing into my schedule soon!! I miss it so much!

3 Things That I am Loving Right Now

This is the little tray that I bought when we were in the mountains. I love the colors of it and it is great to hold a few of my favorite things!

This book makes me SO happy. It was definitely the pick-me-up that I needed with Kelsey being back at college. It is "Embroidery Companion" by the AMAZING Alicia Paulson.

I LOVE new fabric!! and nothing is better than Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet 2!

I'm putting in alot of time at the Media Center this week but come friday I hope to spend the evening sewing up some pillowcases for my sweet girl!

Spending My Time

Stitching with my favorite helper. Watching out the window for the school bus to bring me my boy.