Word of The Year "Stitch"

Kelly over at Charming Chatter came up with a great idea to have a theme word for the year.  Almost immediately the word that came to mind was "Stitch".    I selected this simply because that's exactly what I need to focus on to get me into my sewing room again.  Last year, for some reason or another, I just couldn't set aside enough time for myself.  So, my focus will be to "stitch".  Maybe I can get my creative edge going again and do what I love to do....sew!

Happy New Year!

Valentine "Sewing Party"

Yay!! It's finished. I couldn't relax until it was complete. I decided to machine stitch the binding on and it turned out great. It was a long day, but worth the fun. I also was able to finish 4 treat bags. The rest are cut out and just need to be sewn. I'll save that for later or maybe tomorrow. Good Nite ladies. It sure was a great bash!!

It's 6:15 pm and the quilting is done. Now all that's left to do is the binding. In a couple of hours I'll be watching my grandsons and plan to get the hand stitching of the binding finished. It 's been a busy, but extremely fun day sewing with you all. I've visited alot of your blogs and have enjoyed your lovely projects. Thank you all for your comments and encouragement along the way! See you guys at the next Party!!!



It's a little after 5pm now and I've attached the border and sandwiched the batting and back fabric together. I've begun the quilting on the heart and I'm just about done with that. Still need to quilt on the white background.




Finally the top is done (it measures 19"x 17.5" right now). The pinning, pressing and lining up of each of these rows seemed to take forever, well it's complete now. It's now 2pm and I'm really hungry. Gonna have some hot dogs, pasta salad and a drink and get back to sewing. (Photo not loading right now???) Had lunch and came to try again and the photo loaded. Guess I just needed to eat something.

I did some blog hopping and you ladies have some really great projects going. This is so much fun!

It's 11:30 and this is my progress so far. I'm off to visit some blogs, socialize for a bit than return to sewing this together and designing the borders.


This Valentine "Sewing Party" with Kelly, Joan and all you gals is going to be fun. My first project for today is a heart wall hanging. Here's a photo of the fabric I'll be using. I still need to cut the background fabric and sew it together.

My second project is some small treat bags. See photo of one I've sewn together. I'm planning to make a couple of dozen of these.

I'm looking forward to visiting you all and seeing your projects.
Off to Sew!!

Creative Anticipation

Happy New Year everyone! The hectic schedule of the holidays, visiting with friends and family, cooking, shopping and baking, is slowing down for me and hopefully for all of you. I'm so looking forward to getting back to my sewing room and creating some fun projects and also getting back to blogging and visiting all of you.


In the little time I've had to sew I've been working on two Elephant wall hangings (1930 reproductions). I made the pink one for the instructor of my quilting class. She really likes elephants so I know she'll love it.


Sometime in October or November I bought this book on antiques quilts and when I saw the elephant one I thought of her and decided to make it to surprise her. She is such a sweet lady and always goes out of her way to find a pattern or technique for us to use. I can't wait till the semester starts in February to present it to her. I had fun making it for her and decided to make one for myself so I started one and hope to get it finished in the next few days.


Today a had some time to visit Kelly's blog to catch up on what the CGQC was up too since I've been out of the loop for the past month and was so excited to see all the finished projects of the club members and to learn that they will be having a Valentine sew along next weekend. So, I guess I'll be joining in and making a few Valentine projects and planning my projects for February. I'm also looking forward to visiting all of your blogs and to see what new things you all have planned for the new year.


One more thing, I just wanted to say that since I started my blog last June I've met some really nice, fun and extremely creative people on line and I want you all to know that you are one of the things I am thankful for in the new year and I look forward to sharing and learning from each of you. God Bless!!

Merry Christmas!!

I know it appears that I abandoned my blog, but that's not so. I've been really busy with work and classes. Just like the rest of you, I've been sewing every chance I get and preparing for the holidays!

My CGQC "Secret Santa" gift is in the mail to my secret partner, I just hope she gets it before Christmas.

I want to share something really fun that I recently learned. Have you all seen or heard of tube blocks? I was introduced to the technique by my class instructor who was also nice enough to give me this link to view the tutorial. Check it out. It's a quick way to put together some really fun projects. We made table runners, another made a queen size quilt practically over night using this technique.

Everyone who tries it gets really excited about the technique and the outcome of the blocks. Check out her whole blog, she's got a giveaway going on too for a fabulous looking apron.

I'll be taking a short trip to Las Vegas and returning just before Christmas. All the family will be spending the holiday week at my house so I probably won't be posting till after the New Year so may you all have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!!

Preparing for the Holidays

Nearing the holidays just makes us all so busy making plans, decorating, cooking and, of course, making our holiday gifts. The CGQC half-pint quilt along is one of the things I've been working on and haven't posted my latest results so here is a picture of the finished quilt top I don't think I'm going to get it finished soon though.

Here's a photo of a finished pillow sham I made from the project idea posted on cluck cluck sew.

I've got a lot of other projects that are gifts so I can't put the photos up and I'm still working on my queen sized Trip quilt that I'll post a photo on next week.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!! Enjoy your family and the great Thanksgiving feast. God Bless!!

Half-Pint Quilt Top Complete

I had some catching up to do and guess what? I made it. Here's a photo of the strips. I was rushing to catch up and didn't take photos of the nine-patches. The photo isn't very good and doesn't show the colors well. I used four different colors in purples and lavenders for this one with a deep purple background fabric. I thought I'd never finish putting those 1 1/2" squares together. Whew...it feels good to be caught up.


And here's the photo of the top all sewn together. Good luck to everyone in the quilt along. I'm looking forward to seeing all the completed tops. Thanks, again to Kelly for putting this together. I love the pattern and plan to make a larger size when I'm not so strapped to complete holiday projects.

August Charming Girls Club Finishes

The blue quilt top blanket (started back in April or May) was made for one of my grandson and then his little brothers (the twins) asked where their blankets were. They're a year younger and I had planned to make them each one for Christmas but because they were feeling left out I had to go to work on theirs now since they made me feel pretty guilty.

I quickly started on the second one (the green one) and finished it in about three days, complete with his nickname embroidered in the center.

I'm currently working on the last one for the other twin. I don't think I'll get it done till next week, but I'll give it a good try. The front is almost complete but I still need to add the batting and the back. We'll see how far I get. I keep getting side tracked and working on smaller projects.

(Check out the orbit in the picture with my grandson. I've heard of people finding them in their pictures but this is a first for me.)

I'm also finished the red lap quilt for myself. My legs are always cold. I'll get a lot of use out of it when we sit outside in the evening. Thanks to the CGQC I've completed a number of projects that I had put aside.