Needles and Pens

I'm running a little late today for Amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday , having slept in this morning and recuperated from all the Thanksgiving festivities yesterday. I'm SO not a Black Friday shopper, but as one friend said on Facebook this morning, I'm glad they're out there helping to boost the economy today! :o) Here's a photo of the crowd we had at our house yesterday. There's my mom and dad, my two sisters and their families, plus our own. Thirty-one of us in all. Missing are my two brothers and their families (which would have given us 19 more!) and one sister's daughter-in-law, who wasn't able to come. I don't think we could fit in one house anymore if we all got together at once. And this is only one side of the family! We are very thankful indeed, to be so generously blessed with loving families. :o) Sewing-wise, it was not a super-productive week. I did have one finish, only because it was nearly done last week and all I had lef...

Happy Halloween! I managed to squeeze in one last finish for October today. I did the last few binding stitches on my July "Get 'er Done" challenge, the "Northwoods Noel" wall hanging, made from this panel: And here's the finished product (measuring 36" x 41"), already hanging on the quilt hanger at the top of our stairway. (Wrong holiday, I realize, but I couldn't wait to see it hanging.) It'll go perfectly with the garlands I hang on the stair railing at Christmas time: While finishing this up, I was also supervising pumpkin carving and helping with last-minute touches on Halloween costumes, so I haven't completely mixed up my holidays. It just looks that way. LoL ********************** Just realized, this is my 300th post! There's still time to enter the drawing for my Fall Giveaway , to be held this Friday, November 4th....

It’s true. I’ll admit it. I’ve hardly done anything except sew this month. But if it weren’t for these quilting challenges, I’d most likely have been hit full-on by now with the winter blahs, so it’s justifiable therapy. (That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it!) January’s number for the CQUSA “Get ‘er Done” Challenge was number eight, the “Homespun Holidays” panel: Since I’ve been up to my ears in appliquéd roses with the UFO challenge, this has been a nice little project to work on when I just couldn’t stand another moment of hand stitching. Nothing fancy in the finishing, just a solid maroon border, followed by a little angel print border that seemed to be made for this panel. (Another bonus: everything used was from my stash!) Most of the quilting is simple outlining, and I bound it in the same maroon solid. Finished it off with a hanging sleeve and a few primitive wood heart buttons tacked on here and there. The finished size is 28” x 35.” Might make a nice Christmas gift for som...

Due to my lack of time for blogging this year, there were a number of quilt projects I never got around to sharing, so I thought I'd show them off in one last post for 2010. These were some of my favorites, too, because each was a celebration of a special little one in my life: July 2010 -- A Disappearing Four-Patch in pink and brown polka dots Made for precious baby Shyla, the new granddaughter of a dear friend of mine. September 2010 -- Woodland Four-Patch (with more polka dots!) Made for adorable baby Reid, my newest great-nephew. October 2010 -- A 1930's Patch Quilt Made for beautiful baby Zoe, my newest great-niece. And last but not least, October 2010 -- A Picture Play I-Spy Quilt For my sweet, sweet grandson, Aaron, who turned two years old this year. May we all be so richly blessed in 2011. Happy New Year!!

So, once again, life has completely obliterated my attempts to blog. But, I'm back! For today, at least. LoL This is the first time I've even looked at a blog in over a month, and since it is Friday, I decided to go over to Amylouwho's place and see if she was still hosting Sew & Tell Fridays . Come to find that, just today, she posted the post-holiday "secret gift edition" of Sew & Tell. Apparently I'm not as far behind as I thought! Unless, of course, you take notice of my unseasonable Fall blog background... oh, well. I'll be caught up again, all in good time. December was even more hectic than usual this year, what with juggling a new "part-time" job (which became suspiciously "full-time" during the holidays) along with all the normal Christmas to-do's. Ironically, working at a fabric store really makes a person want to sew, while simultaneously sapping all extra time from their day. Still, I did manage to squeeze in a...

Leave it to me. On Thanksgiving Eve, with bread yet to be baked, a turkey yet to be prepped, and a houseful of company expected tomorrow, I've been totally obsessed with finishing this Thanksgiving mini sampler. But hey, it's done! And just in time. LoL Now for the bread and the turkey... Have a Happy Thanksgiving, all! :o)

This is my grandson, Aaron, one year ago. See how nicely he posed for a picture back then? LoL What a difference a year makes! We tried, I mean we really tried to get a good picture in his pirate costume, but the child never stands still . What I did get were lots of pictures on the go. This way... ...and that way... ...and for one brief moment, I thought I had the shot. But no, he had things to do and people to see -- and that pirate hat really didn't fit into his plans... ...there was furniture to rearrange... ...wrestling with Uncle Tim... ...Hotwheels to drive... ...and lots of hugging and kissing and giggling and squealing to do... Aaron's not the easiest subject to photograph these days... ...but he's definitely the cutest little pirate in town. ;o)

I only just discovered Sew & Tell Friday last week, and seeing all the great projects everyone posted really motivated and inspired me. In fact, two of my finishes for this week were directly related to last week's Sew & Tell, so if you're in need of some creative inspiration, I highly recommend visiting Amylouwho for a list of this week's participants. Last week, Beth, from Love Laugh Quilt , posted a scrappy pin cushion tutorial, that looked like so much fun, I had to make one myself. I wrote about it in an earlier post , but here's a picture, in case you missed it. Fun project, Beth. Thanks again! :o) I also received a package in the mail this week, children's novelty charms from a Country Quilters USA charm swap. The original plan was to use them in an Ami Simms Picture Play quilt. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun and had already sewn 130 little charms together before I learned that they were cut a little too large for the pattern. I could have taken...

I spent quite some time yesterday giving my blog a new fall makeover, and somewhere in the process it dawned on me... Oh, no! I forgot to pay it forward! See, months and months ago, I was the lucky winner in a Pay it Forward giveaway over at Angela's Textile Art . Of course, I was supposed to then pay it forward with a giveaway of my own. I don't know how I let it slip my mind, although when I think about the crazy year I've had, I guess it shouldn't surprise me. Still, it's not like me to forget about something like that, and it's definitely time now to make up for my slacking. :o) So without further ado... it's time to Pay it Forward! The prize : Five Halloween Print Fat Quarters The details : For this giveaway, you must have a blog to enter, so that you, too, can Pay it Forward with a giveaway of your own (hopefully in a more timely manner than I have! LoL). Just leave a comment on this post letting me know you'd like to be entered, and be sure ther...

Now that Christmas is over and the gifts unwrapped, I can finally share all of the projects I've been working on. Lots and lots of Christmas gifts! I've decided that doing things at the last minute is just... the way I do things. I get some kind of adrenaline rush from it all, and I really surprised myself with the number of gifts I was able to finish in just a couple of weeks: Nine dinosaurs, for all the little boys in the family... Eight little dolls, for the girls... Six sets of flannel pajamas... And at the very last minute, a quilted floor pillow for Emily's "black and white" room... And a Christmas quilt for baby Aaron... My sewing machine was smokin'! And it didn't get much of a break. My grandson is being baptized this Sunday and today I started sewing his baptism outfit. White satin -- not my favorite fabric to work with, but it's coming along and I'm sure he'll look adorable. After all, he's adorable no matter what he wears. ;o)

... which really deserved a post all its own. I had every intention of sharing pictures that day, but again, couldn't drag myself off to the computer, what with Aaron's "First Halloween" happening and all. Sheesh. ;o) Anyway, he was dressed for the occasion, right down to his bright orange onesies: And he was a "Toadally Amazing" 'lil toad (it said so, on his bum): Uncle Tim went for the "Super Mario" look: And they were both totally psyched for trick-or-treat: Trick-or-treat, they did: We had a blissfully warm Halloween, for Minnesota, and even little Aaron went door-to-door. He had a great time, too -- though he won't be eating candy bars any time soon. ;o)