A new girl in town....

There is a new girl in town....here is her final resting place.....can you guess what or who it might be?????

there she is....Nina...........

in her full glory....can't believe that I actually bit the bullet and did the deed :) Can't wait to know how to use her fully....man she is way smarter than I am :)

the first project I actually sewed on her was a quilt top...but here was my first "play" project...want to really learn the embroidery part so that I can do this on the quilts that I make...so to practice I made a mug rug....I darkened it to see the thread that I used...got some variegated blue...but it was hard to see...ah the wonders of the techno world :)

oh had a fun weekend also perusing the embroidery sites :) oh my!!!!!!

Such Energy....

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....
We usually don't get a lot of snow here....but they are promising three days of snow here....
My dogs will love these days as they love the snow
As you can see them running like maniacs :)

Cody is jumping back onto the deck....check out the height :)

Zoey enjoying her bit of rest before running again

Cody loves the snow too

Lucy...isn't she a cutie :)

the snowman knocking heavy snow off the magnolia tree :)

ha :)

a far away of the lilac bush


this is a close up of our lilac bush...

Up in the air...junior birdman....

Ok....now that you all have your goggles on and are humming the tune...here is a quilt that I found almost done in my box....I wanted to at least finish piecing the top...well actually just adding the last of the border pieces so that I could clean up more of my room...started this quilt a bazillion years ago...was going to make a pattern but realized I would never be able to explain what I had done...that and it was right around that time that my daughter and family moved into my 'studio' and all my sewing stuff was packed up...I think I started this for my youngest granddaughter whose dad is in the Navy and flies P-3's...she is too old for this thing now and more into princessey type things :)
It is huge and with all the white space I think I am going to have to have it quilted by some artistic long armed person :) Well, huge for what I normally do anyway...way bigger than a baby quilt....

here is a picture of the border too....loved the checkered flag look....what was I thinking when I did this over 9 years ago???? I need to find a boy who likes airplanes to give this to :)

Then I found this lonely block...way more manageable for my little brain....with the leftover fabric I might be able to stretch this to a bigger size...

there were also this pile of flying geese I was going to put around the outside border....man what was I thinking???? But they can go around the single airplane without as much busy-ness as if I put them on the bigger one :) Whew...made me tired already :)

a flat look at the smaller top to be

Out with the old.........

Took down my Christmas and winter mini quilts...bye bye winter and Christmas...altho they are saying that snow is due later this week down to 300'.....hum....

Maybe will have to get the snowman back out for at least a couple of days :)

But did put up the springy tulips...maybe should change the title to "Think Spring" :)

one, two....and three

got this picture of Cody and Zoey napping together....he did have his head on her side but when i got the camera he moved.....but this still is cute :)

and then Nellie had to get into the picture too cuz she was sleeping on poor Zoey too :)

Now...on to more important things...after at least 2 years in the garage I got my husband to hang up the map that the kids bought him for Christmas...several years ago :) for you old timers it is a classroom map of Europe as we grew up knowing it....now the names have been changed and I couldn't even begin to tell you what is what now :) Need to hang something on the sides because it kinda blends in with the walls at this point...or add a black border to it...hum...I do have some black paint???? kinda frame it and make it stand out???

here is a little bit closer look...it is really cool :)

Charity giving

I ran across this blog post when I was perusing my blogging buddies....What an idea. As I am a quilter and love to share my stuff with others this appealed to me.... So, I am showing you the link Cara Quilts and see if any of you faithful blog readers would be interested in helping anyone in your area....Go read the story of how this started :)

We are family ... :)

A family of water bottle holders that is :) I got all of them done for my daughters family for their trip........ssshhhh...it is a secret still to the kids :) I am hoping that they work out for their trip cuz it would be nice to have them a


this is my son in laws....took a pair of my husbands old jeans and made his...the pocket took up almost the entire thing...but I thot it was kinda cool...also didn't put the long strap on his but put a little taggie that he could attach to a belt loop with a carbean instead...clever aren't I :)

as I was coming all the dogs were lined up at the door....wish the door had actually been clean so you could have seen them better but there they all are waiting for me to come in ...aren't they just cute :)

Gotta stop looking....

I just gotta stop looking.... :)
For a few months now I have been looking at a friends blog and seeing all the wonderful things she and the blogs that she has been following have been doing...I kept thinking I need to get back into my sewing room and start creating again...well kept thinking I needed to go through some of my stash before I added anything more........that lasted until I started looking at fabric again and now am adding again............ I just love fabric.
Went on Saturday to a local warehouse to "look" at fabric. It was quite a blustery day and they were afraid that the power would go out so they cautioned me and my friend and a couple of other ladies who were "looking" too that if the power went out to stay where we were and they would come and find us with flashlights :) I told them...no problem...I would just sit there and feel the material until they came and got me :) What is it about the texture and the visual eye candy that brings a sense of well being to me...not to mention the "GOTTA HAVE's"
So this is my purchase from Saturday :) Look at those colors....aren't they just yummy?

Here is the roll from the side instead of the top....lovin these jelly rolls as they are called....

From that store I also got some white fabric and some fabric books...oh and a minkie blanket....so yummy to touch...but it isn't for me so :(
Then my husband asked if there was some place I wanted to go later that day......... :) (make that a really big smiley face!) I was wanted to go to the other fabric store in town and get some "sale" fabric...but instead I got this.........aren't the colors wonderful???

And then today........well........what can I say...I am obsessed with sale fabric :)
These came in the mail...I had to wait a bit longer for them to be shipped because the ladies from the store were on a quilt retreat...but worth the wait ;)

Can you imagine they fit all this stuff in one box :)

These two rolls were just darn cheap :) They match the turnover triangles above....hum...wonder what I am going to do with them????

and more color.........maybe I won't do anything with these just enjoy the color.........

side view of the above jelly roll

and last but not least.......more of the Oasis fabric that I did a table topper for my table....just love these colors...

Whew.......think I need to sit down and maybe will shop with my fingers some more :) There is another sale going on that I might have to check out ;)

POTD...

POTD???? WHAT? Hum...are you wondering what that is? Oh my dear Watson...so easy...Project Of The Day :)
My grandkids are planning a trip and I saw this tutorial and thot....that would be great...so after running it by mom to make sure it was something she thot would be great too I made this one....it is for my autistic grandson that loves Toy Story....and this fabric is definitely Toy Story :)

So what is it???? Here is a close up of it...any guesses?

TaDa....It is a water bottle carrier...you sling it over your shoulder and you can have water with you all the time and can stop at the nearest drinking fountain and refill...clever huh? Hopefully they will use them cuz I think it is a great idea....

Think I will make me one too but making it with a bigger water bottle.............
Here is the website with the tutorial--Pink Chalk Studio

Blonde moments

I have been blog hoppin lately and saw this wonderful idea...you sew your rows in order and leave them attached...so each of these rows are connected with threads....the theory is that you can then just put the top row over the second row and sew them...I was so excited when I took this picture...right after I took it I realized that my brilliant idea wouldn't work cuz there were still two rows of sashing to do....so I needed to clip the threads and make them separate rows :(

here is the quilt with the other sashing put in....now to back it and bind it...

the picture of this didn't come out with the rich colors of this mini quilt but it is bound and finished...it is going on my dining room table as soon as Valentines day is over :)

going fabric shopping tomorrow........do I really need more fabric???? Of course :)

Ah...chicken

Went for a ride on Saturday....ended up in Woodinville at a very small quilt shop....nothing exciting there...so we started going home and decided to stop at this place...tons of fabric (wonder why the underlining started and stopped??)

We ended up here...lovely place with tons and tons of fabric...but I didn't get anything

While I was fabric shopping my husband was out taking pictures of chickens...well just one that hung around the quilt store
check out the doo on this guy

now isn't this the funniest thing you have seen?

now there could be a really funny caption for this one and for the life of me I can't think of one ;)

Memory lane

I just took a pseudo walk down memory lane...I tagged some of my posts...wow.........516 to be exact...not as many as some but more than others...it was fun to see the progression of dogs that I have had....some have stayed and some haven't...and the things I did and the people I met with....it is hard to remember dates but I have logged some down so that I can go back and remember the event virtually :) Wow...isn't technology amazing!

Gift that keeps on giving...

A couple of posts back I wrote of a 'satisfied' client who sent me a wonderful bouquet of flowers....well it is the gift that keeps on giving..when I took the first pictures I didn't realize that there were lilies in there....but surprise on me.....cuz they are starting to open and freshing up that bouquet...the roses are wilting but the lilies are coming.......

A few days ago I also eluded to another quilt table topper I was doing...well the top is done....and here is the base of it...I am in love with the charm packs for sure...they make short work of piecing as most of it is done for you ;) Well I mean most of the cutting is done for you....
So I started with two of these Oasis Charm Packs and did a Hidden 9 Patch....ok...so I got the idea from the Missouri Quilt company...love the tutorials on what to do with the new 'cuts' of fabric mostly from Moda...still have a few to try.........need more fat quarter ideas :(

So here is the quilt...it isn't backed and bound yet but have to get to my handy quilt store to get the binding...think it is going to be the darker pink color...Isn't this just a cool spring pastel quilt?

the picture makes the pink look more like salmon but it really is a dark pink....and I think that same color will make the rest of the quilt pop :) (for you non-quilters that is a good thing :)