He Did Great!

My son's second sewing project, a pencil case, and it's his first zipper!!

Makes a Mom proud ")

The Postman Brought a Postcard

I joined in the fun at Sheila's Quilt World Postcard Exchange and received this lovely

paper pieced postcard from Sheila. The theme was, of course, Valentine's.

I love it!

Now that Sheila has received her Valentine I can show you what I sent.

Yes, it's a pretty design but it allowed me to use some of my mixed media ideas.

Who doesn't like glitter?

Sheila will be hosting more exchanges throughout the coming year.

Transition

Isn't this a great way to view the inevitable?

I've been stitching away but my camera decided it's time to hang out the 

"Gone Fishing" sign!

Hope to be clicking pics soon.

HAPPY STITCHING :)

Ho Hum Tweedle Dum

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This was yesterday, Bullet patiently waiting for spring.

 No, that's not an icicle hanging from her lip, she's

getting a little older and this end leaks every once in a while!

(Better than the other end!!)

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HOWEVER, 

today is a different story and scene!

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This is the same doorway that was void of snow less than 12 hours ago!

How's that for accumulation? Note,

no pup sitting, watching the world today!

She's snoring away at the moment.

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HOWEVER,

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I am pleased to report that progress is being made!

WOOHOO!!!

This quilt is not leaving my machine until it is fin.

Maybe this afternoon?

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HOWEVER,

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This needs to be dealt with (ugh)...

I found it under a pile of fabric along with my near complete PIFs!

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HI !!

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Marlene, from STITCHIN BY THE LAKE  

has invited me to share a little bit 

about myself during 

"I Want to Get to Know You".

So here goes,

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I'm a wife of 15+ years to my #1 guy,

we have 2 fantastic boys together, 

I am  step mom to #1's first born which is a bit comical (I'm 49 my stepson is 37),

I'm  Grams to 2 gorgeous grandchildren,

I'm a foster mom to 2 kiddos too.

Before wearing all these hats, I thoroughly enjoyed the creativity offered to me through goldsmithing.

I began my apprenticeship with my Father, a journeyman himself, at 16 when I left high school.

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The tools of my trade.

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I am going back into this field later this year, all plans falling into place.

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Obviously, I love sewing and quilting has become a passion over the past

few years. I made my very first quilt 30 years ago and then had a super long hiatus,

I'm talking about a 20 year hiatus. When my oldest was born 11 years ago, I

  attempted  to sew a couple of quilts without any clue as to what I was doing!

It has only been the last 5 years that I have managed to sew more quilts and learn so

much by way of the internet and the scores of amazing blogs out there.

I have recently been part of the blog hop world and I am involved with a 

Doll Quilt Swap that has been loads of fun.

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I also enjoy 

reading murder mysteries, 

 watching murder mysteries,

the styles of the the 1920s and 30s,

and

almost every type of music out there!

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Thank you, Marlene, for allowing me to share in the chatter over the fence today.

Thank you to those that pop in for a visit, I hope you drop back often.

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HAPPY STITCHING!

Do You French?

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Ooo lala!!! Va Va Voom!

Oui?

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Get you minds out of the gutter...honestly!

I'm talking about FRENCH SEAMS people!!

Aren't these so neat and tidy? I love to french...my seams! Sheesh!!

Every seam inside this sucker is frenched, no fraying going on here!

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I've been antsy today to start and finish s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g,

I just wasn't sure what though. Then it hit me,

PILLOWCASES.

I have never sewn one before and I know they're not hard to make,

sew I did! 

I found a 1 meter cut of this sports fabric in my stash that I'd long forgotten about 

and 

voila!

CJ, my soccer player, has a new place to rest his head on tonight.

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Try as I might I could not get the proper shade of orange on Photoscape today

my apologies to Marcia's Crafty Sewing & Quilting.

I won this fabric in the fall from her and the colour is a gorgeous, saturated shade that I simply can't capture on my monitor :(

Trust me though it totally rocks with the flames on this pillowcase!

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HAPPY STITCHING ;)

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11 more sleeps

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WINNER, WINNER Chicken Dinner & Question

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Does anyone know where I can purchase a copy of 

BURDA  MAGAZINES?

I'm trying to get the pattern for this dress and the rest of the plus size patterns in this issue,

I know I can download it but I'd like to have the paper pattern from Burda  since the pdf has been cutting the pattern edges off!

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Holiday Lane Pillow Blog Hop WINNER!!!

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the WINNER IS>>>>

"DEB of Ramblings of an Empty Nester"

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If you were planning on jumping in on Nancy Drew's Blog Hop for January...

it's been postponed and in it's place is a new Hop.

Interested?

Check in with Madame Samm for the details!

Especially if you have a lot to say....hmmmm!

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SMSI hosted by BRYE

This past Saturday I spent a little time with a few blog friends sewing up some fun.

I was part of Brye's Saturday Morning Sew In.

I was able to start and finish a couple of projects.

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I paper pieced these 2 little snowmen from

Carol Doak's free pattern page.

I put a pocket on the back (forgot to take pic),

for a tiny candy cane or chocolate and ribbon to hang them from.

They're approximately 3" square.

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Next I stitched up this mug rug which will be included in a parcel going out this month.

I hope the recipient likes it.

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HAPPY STITCHING

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My day for the " U R Priceless Blog Hop " is November 13th!

Please drop by for a visit and be inspired by all the incredible ideas.

50 down/ 50 to go

Can you believe it's been 50 days since signing up to Kelsey's 

100 Day Hustle?

Can you believe there's only 50 days left in 2012?!

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Here's a montage of what I've accomplished thus far!

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Quilt for Charity "DONE"

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Grandson's Quilt (late addition to list)  "DONE and DELIVERED"

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blocks sewn together  for flimsy

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another pic of charity quilt

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Granddaughter's quilt (late addition) "DONE and DELIVERED"

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SEW, MOM, SEW!!! 

woof, woof, woof!!!

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Laundry Day top sewn together for flimsy

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label for charity quilt (heading to the hospital)

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some of the free motion quilting of butterflies and flowers on the charity quilt.

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I also finished blocks for the Wicked Blog Hop.

I am waiting impatiently for my purse frames for the UR Priceless Blog Hop

my coin purses are finished though :)

I'm also working on my Holiday Lane Pillow Blog Hop project

Today I'm hoping to get the pillow finished and get to quilting one of the flimsies(?)

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So far sew good, I think.

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October NewFOs

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October saw a flurry of activity in more ways than one!

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Not only did this month find me stitching up BLOG HOP blocks.

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It's the 31st and I'm going to be trying to get the bindings on my 4 blocks today!

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But my hubster gave me a one week heads up that we were taking a flying trip to Alberta

to see my Dad and our Grandkids!

Well I certainly wasn't going empty handed...sew

I sewed and stitched and growled and cursed, I posted about my dilemma and some of the

best of the best blogging buddies came to my rescue to get the quilting completed on 2 quilts.

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Grandson's flimsy

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Granddaughter's flimsy

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Here's the OTHER  flurry for October (this is still on the ground and there's more falling).

I'm sure hubster is growling while he's clearing snow and building a hill for the kids!

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I wonder what Bullet is thinking about the snow?

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

BE SAFE!!

Do You Believe?

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Some of you may remember this gal.

I had her on a post that was about bird nesting and backlash due to

my sewing machine having an extremely bad case of

"BUGGERED STITCHING" or "B.S." for short.(wink)

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For those of you that have been lucky enough not to have experienced this

phenomenon with your sewing machine, this is what it looks like.

This is the back of a quilt for my Granddaughter,

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see the mess of thread (pretty bad, isn't it?).

No matter how many times I re-threaded, ripped out, re-stitched, ripped out, re...

you get the picture?!

After the post, I had so many fantastic friends share their solutions with me that I was able to

complete both my Grandkids quilts!

Thank you all so very much!

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The way I fixed the problem  was to cut out a small circle of

sew-in interfacing and place it in the bobbin case first

then my bobbin!! No more headaches!!

I may give the teflon discs a try yet but since I'm 45 minutes from the nearest retailer,

this solution was spot on!

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You don't want to miss the next 3 days of the

Wicked Blog Hop.

Stop in to see "Spiderella" and enter my GIVEAWAY!