Missouri Momma made my day

I was feeling sort of  down because my eyes aren't quite up to par yet. My eyes get rather tired when I use them for more than 15 or so minutes at a time so I have been very slow at working on any projects that I have planned.Quilting and reading are my favorite things to do.

 But then, hubby came back from the mailbox with not just one but two boxes from my Secret Santa. The contents showed that the person who had my name really took time to learn about me. Look what was inside....chocolate covered cherries (my favorite candy), Chantilly body lotion and spray (my favorite scent), a book about Christmas, sea glass and a little vase to use with the sea glass, candles, fresh linen scent spray, a Christmas towel.  The Christmas towel was right on target because we didn't have room to bring Christmas decorations with us.  Thank you Secret Santa, THANK YOU!

Another good thing happened this week. I went to the villa office and put up a notice that we are going to get crafters together (knitters, crocheters, sewers, and QUILTERS one day a week starting in January in the meeting room.The group that has been meeting are really not quilters but said that the other lady that I met last year who is a quilter and I could meet with them.  I put the notice on the bulletin board and before I could go out the door a lovely lady stopped me and told me she was so excited to hear about it....she is a  quilter from New York state and has been looking for other quilters in the community.  So now there are at least three of us.....Who knows there may be more as many of the residents don't arrive until after the holidays!!

Well, off to relax a little.....Happy Quilting

A little bird joins me in saying....

Greetings from sunny Florida. It has been in the 80s since we got here and I don't miss the cold one little bit! This bird was enjoying our neighborhood the other day by stopping at each front door in our cluster. She was even kind enough to let me take some pictures.

I know it has been ages since I posted on my blog....not since I returned from Lancaster. I have been busy though. Since my last posting I have completed many projects including:
      three raggy throws for my grandchildren
      four purses - three to give away and one to keep for myself
      seven cosmetic bags - for gifts
      two sets of placemats for gifts
      seven sets of coasters for gifts
      a set of mug rugs for a gift

We had a family "Thanks-mas" the first weekend in December. Both of my sons and their families came for a holiday celebration.  Since they both have jobs that require them to often work on holidays (and this year was no exception) it was the only time we had to get together.  A great time was had by all....and I even got some dies for my GO cutter that I wanted from my hubby.
     
I did have a set back that threw me for a loop. I had an eye problem (vitreous detachment) in one eye. Unfortunately, it was in my "good" eye and my vision has been slightly impaired. Right now I am trying to rest my eyes as my "poor" eye has been trying to take on more of the work and thus is getting tired more easily. Hopefully all will balance out. I have a wonderful doctor who went the extra mile and found me a doctor here in FL who will handle my case while we are here.

 I was so upset when this happened because I didn't want to spoil our trip. We had been looking forward to coming to FL for months. My hubby is going to have the opportunity to spend some time with his brother whom he hasn't seen in about five years. His sister also has a place near ours and it was planned to be a family reunion of a sorts.  I do miss quilting every day but I found that if I take it easy, I can do some work. I have some projects in mind. I even brought my little Janome sewing machine with me.

I do have some good news though.  Our Block of the Month quilt is hanging in Serendipity Quilt Shop. Check out the shop link to get a look at the quilt. We will also be having another great announcement in the near future featuring one of our other designs.....check out Pat's blog or mine to see a picture of the quilt.

Well, I am going to get off the computer as I need to take a little break...I will try to get more posts done in the near future.

Happy Quilting

Is it time to go home already?

I arrived in Lancaster on Monday and immediately set to shopping and enjoying the company of my friends Pat, Sherry, and Prue..

We are staying in a lovely house, Amish Valley Vacation Home.  These homes are owned by two great people, Daryl and Tina who make us feel so welcome. Our gang has stayed at other of their homes other years but this one is so super great for quilters!

Of course, we have spent lots of time shopping for all the wonderful fabric that is available here. I can't even count the number of yards of fabric that I have bought so far....and I will have to show that to you all later as it is still in bags.....

But this year we have been sewing up a storm. We have all completed at least one project and cut out lots more. Here is Pat at our sewing table. It wasn't this neat during all of our stay but we didn't dare post the mess we made!

This house was well suited for a group of quilters. The big kitchen table held our sewing machines, there was room for a special cutting table, and the counter had room for the GO! cutter that we used to make raggy rugs and throws.  Sherry taught us how to make some little purses, rope table mats, and wine glass coasters. Pat taught how to make raggy rugs....I just was her helper!  We all learned a  lot from each other and had a lot of laughs. We have already made our reservations for the same  house next year.

Tonight we will have our last night party where we do our mystery gift game and share our completed projects. 

More about the trip later....

Happy Quilting

getting ready to go.....

Each fall, a few of my quilting friends and I spend time in Lancaster, PA on a little informal quilting retreat. We do some shopping, quilting, and just have fun.  We are leaving on Monday, Halloween, this year. My friend, Pat, does the organizing, makes the reservations, and collects our money. She deserves a big hug for all her work.

Before I go, I am trying to navigate this new format of posting and dealing with the "tricks" of the format. In my last two posts, I talked about uploading pictures.  Here is another one that I successfully added although not in my normal way. This is a scrappy quilt that I made entirely with my GO! cutter. And I machine quilted it all by myself. You can't see on the picture but quilted a heart design in the larger blocoks and then did some squiggly lines along the sashing. It turned out pretty good if I say so myself.

Yesterday we had a gloomy, rainy, windy day while many others on the east coast had snow....I hate the thought of that. Today, I am packing my things, making soup to take, and figuring out what projects I will take with me to the retreat....I have so many UFOs that I should work on but I think I will take these blocks to add sashing.  They were the prototype blocks for our Block of the Month. Surprise......I don't know how but this pic uploaded correctly!

Happy Halloween and Happy Quilting

another try

In my last post I talked about having trouble uploading pictures. Now my posting site looks completely different. I was successful with this one but I really don't know how it happened. I went to html first, uploaded the picture, then  clicked on compose....and the picture magically appeared going the right direction.  I have noticed that since I have my new computer with the new Windows and Microsoft Office, I have been having trouble with blogspot. Sometimes I can't open blogs I follow and when I do, I can't seem to comment. So be patient with me.

While I have a picture here, I will tell you a little about it.

This quilt was designed by my quilting buddy, Pat, and I as a Block of the Month sampler for Serendipity Quilt Shop. It will be hanging in the shop very soon so you can see all of it (Those of you who live near Dagsboro, DE that is).  We have been busy proofing the patterns that will be available at the shop. We have a lot of fun designing patterns and making quilts together.

As time goes by....

I know it has been a long time since I posted....My excuses are not exciting....I did not go to Casablanca to spend time at Rick's. I will show you in pictures some of the things I have been up to.

First of all, I got a new computer. As you can see, the picture I inserted came out rotated....I have to figure out why this is happening. In my saved files, the picture was oriented the correct way but when it showed up in blogger, it was wrong. I spent all morning today trying to figure this out!

One of two quilts made for our place in FL

a baby quilt for my nephews' first

Raggy rugs made with my GO

Spent time with my grandson

I GIVE UP!!!!!
I am able to get some of the pictures in ....and for some reason the rest won't go. I have tried shutting down and starting all over; I have resaved the pictures multiple times; I have even tried rotating the pictures in my files and then trying to post them....

So, the rest of my updates will have to wait till another day. If anyone has any hints about why this frustrating experience with my pictures is happening, I'd be happy to hear.  I never had this experience before when I had my old computer.... I think I will go sew.


Happy Quilting

Marking time....and a giveaway winner

The end of my giveaway has come. The random number generator said #4 so that is .......

Sandie ~call me crazy said...



No Go here either. I love both of your little quilts. I love to make star blocks. Thanks for the fun!

September 8, 2011 8:39 PMI will be contacting her to get her choice of patterns.



It was fun to see what readers liked in block choices....and see that readers have so similar likes as I do.

Now for quilting chat...

Over the last few days I have been working on machine quilting and honing my skills. I have tried a few methods for marking a pattern.

1. Tissue paper pattern. On this one you draw your design on tissue paper and then quilt through this.  I didn't like it because, in my opinion, it screwed up the stitch tension and I had to readjust. Also, I thought the paper moved and I didn't get a nice line.

2. Pounce with stencils.  I thought this was messy and I didn't like the dust that pouncing created. I don't need any more pollution in my lungs.

3. Tracing with stencils.  Of the three methods, I thought this was the easiest to mark and follow. Hmmm....old methods seem to be good.

What are your marking methods?