Birthday Block Swap

Just before Christmas, I received a package from Susan J in Indiana. She said the first block she made was a little wonky so she made a second one. I am not sure which one is the wonky one, they are both lovely.

In addition, she sent a really cute handmade tree ornament. As you can tell, it went on the tree immediately.

Santa was here

He brought me a Moda tower of 40 fat quarters. I'm thinking maybe Bonnie Hunter's New Years Mystery quilt. I also go this quilt kit. The pattern is included, it looks easy enough and the colors are just right for my living room. I wonder how he knew.




I received another traditional Christmas gift, new silly socks. If you squeeze the Santa he plays Jingle Bells.

What did Santa bring to your house?

Time waster

This is about the only way I'll see snow here is sunny South Florida. Want to kill a few minutes? Try this

http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/

Tacky Christmas Sweaters

I have seen tacky Christmas sweaters on a few blogs today and they seem to be daring me to show mine. If I lived in a colder climate, I would probably have a few more. I do get to wear these a few times in December and I really like them.

This one was a gift from my husband. He bought it on one of our trips to Disneyworld (kind of obvious don't you think)

Here is my other sweater.

No collection would be complete without goofy Christmas socks.


So, what kind of goofiness do you wear at Christmas? I dare you to blog it.

Thought for the Day

I've hit the Jackpot

Remember the Pillowcase Party Mary had over the Thanksgiving holiday? I really wasn't paying too much attention but there were door prizes and I won one. Yahoo! It arrived yesterday from Lori in South Dakota and what a wonderful gift. There is a bright and cheerful batch of fat quarters. I love these new colors and I think I am going to have to get more. She included 2 spools of Aurafil thread (I've always wanted to try some of that), the cutest holiday nail file and of course a whole bunch of chocolate (Ghirardelli dark- my favorite). What a happy gift to come home from work to.



But that wasn't all, I received a RAK from Cindy in Virginia. She even has a RAK stamp right on the envelope. It contained some P&B fat quarters and some super cute fat eighths. There little star packs are so cute, I'm thinking I might hang them on the tree as an ornament..........nah, I'm cutting them up.

The old saying that things happen in threes must be true because I also got another birthday block. This one is from Colene in Idaho. It is a pretty, well constructed block and I am happy to receive it.
Would you believe these are more gifts than I got on my birthday?

Another Mini Basket

My Mom is now living in an ALF. I will be visiting her this Wednesday.I found this really cute little live Norfolk Island Pine tree (about 10" tall) to bring her. It is a good excuse to make another basket.

Birthday Blocks

This is my birthday month (not my real birthday but the block swap birthday month). I tried to make things simple and easy. I asked for a 12 or 6 inch block with a white background and a floral foreground. It could be a star or really any pattern the maker chooses, but no paper pieced blocks.

Cathy from California has sent me my first block and it is lovely. It is very simplistic but oh so perfectly executed. I do really prefer a well made block to a poorly made complicated block. This is going to be a fun month.

Block Lotto

I have finally completed 8 blocks for the about.com December Block Lotto. This months block is called Yankee Puzzle. Why don't you make a few and join in?

4 Days Off

With 4 days off of work you would think I could have accomplished more but I kept getting side tracked. My husband and I actually went to Toys r Us on Friday morning (I know, I know that's just plain nuts) but my granddaughter wants a Gameboy DS in Blue for Christmas. This is a hot item this year so we thought it best not to wait. The store wasn't as bad as we feared and we only had to wait on line for about 15 minutes and got a limited edition DS in ice blue (I want to keep it for myself).

My grand children decided they wanted to help put up our Christmas tree. This is a very big ordeal which we hadn't planned on doing so early. Because my house is so small, we store our 8 foot tree and all our decorations in a warehouse. The children may be small but they really were a big help. They did almost the whole tree and grandma got to sit and watch.

But I did manage to get 9 pillowcases done for the Pillowcase Party over at the Heartstrings site. I'll bet some of you will recognize that eye chart fabric.

I made two blocks which will be going into a quilt for a seriously ill friend. I also completed a few blocks for the about.com block lotto. I'll post a picture when I get all of them done.

On a final note, something outside my comfort zone. I have always wanted to make greeting cards. To force myself to stop talking and start doing, I joined a handmade Christmas card swap. I am not even sure how I ended up at the site as it has nothing to do with quilts. I believe the gals I am swapping with are far more experienced than I so I hope my beginner cards will be met with approval. You would not believe how many attempts there were at getting that bow to stay put. There is now glue everywhere, but it was a hot glue gun that did the trick.

Zizzy-Dot Swap - November edition

Dotti and I both got a bit silly this month. Dotti says this is the Nevada turkey..............

Mine, on the other hand is just plain goofy.................

Patchwork Postcards

I have been working on several projects and not many are at a stage I can show you. But I can show you some of my Patchwork Postcards.

Some are in Amish (sort of) colors.

Some are in bright colors (check out that thread color)

And I made a bunch in 30's prints (I like these the best)

Thrifted Shirts

I'm sure we've all seen the wonderful quilts that Bonnie Hunter makes from thrifted shirts. I just had to try my hand at this. Last weekend I went to Joanns to get some black fabric for the Amish House Block Lotto. It was not too far from a Goodwill Store so I went there too. There were 10 long, neat racks of men's shirts. I went straight for the XXL and immediately spotted some gorgeous plaid shirts. There were so many to choose from I didn't know which to grab first, until I spotted the sign that said $5 each. If I wanted a shirt to wear these would have been a really good deal, but they are a bit too expensive to be cutting them up. I asked the lady at the cash register if they sold by the pound and she gave me the address of the only place in town that sells by the pound. It just happens to be a few blocks from where I work.

On my lunch break one day, I went to the Goodwill warehouse and what a difference from the first store. There were rows of table with piles of crap on them. The lighting was dim and the floor was in desperate need of a sweeping. There were several ladies (none who spoke any English) combing through the piles. I spotted a great looking screaming orange (I love screaming orange) plaid shirt in a bin that was separate from the rest. One of the ladies grabbed it out of my hand and spoke harshly to me in Creole. It was a crazy scene and it was hard to figure out just what was going on. But I went back to the crap tables and managed to find 9 all cotton shirts, in stripes and plaids. They cost me $7.

I took them home and washed them all in hot water. Here they are. I spent Wednesday night cutting off the buttons.

The buttons are a bit of a bonus. I spent Thursday and Friday nights cutting up the shirts into usable pieces. Here they are piled up next to my sewing machine.

I'm thinking I might add some of my own plaid homespuns and make a very masculine looking log cabin. It will have to wait though as I have started some other projects that I would like to finish first. That was fun and I will have to do it again.

Block Lotto

November's block lotto block at about.com is called Amish Houses. You can make as many as 8 but I only made six. They are a very easy paper pieced block. Many years ago, my friend Glenda and I dyed a bunch of fabric. Three of these blocks have some of that fabric but I'm not telling which ones.

A good week

I haven't done much in the way of sewing lately. I did go to Joann's to get some black fabric for the about.com block lotto. I also spent 3 days sorting and pressing my scraps. Stings go here, small scraps go there and 2 1/2" squares go in another place. I managed to get rid of one box and three bags full just by flattening them out.

I do have a big smile on my face having received these great tie dyed shirts from Vicki. Aren't they spectacular?



She included some handmade soap. I really have been wanting some of that. And if all that wasn't enough, she even made the wrappers. What a talented lady.

To complete the week I found out that I had won a blog giveaway. Do you have any idea how many of those I have entered in the past year? The blog is Piece O Cake Designs, I know you've seen their adorable patterns. Scroll down a bit and you can see the beautiful appliqued block that's coming my way.

Time waster

Check out this site. Pick a color, pick two, or more. Fun, fun, fun.

Nicky's Quilt

When my grandson Nicky was very little, we bought him some Guy Harvey tee shirts so he would look like his daddy and grandpa. He out grew the shirts quickly. When he was about 3 or 4 his mom wanted to give the shirts away. He would not let her. In an effort to make room in his shirt drawer she talked him into giving the shirts to grandma so she can make him a fishy tee shirt quilt like she did for grandpa.

As soon as I got those shirts I cut them up and backed them with fusible tricot, along with 3 of grandpa's shirts, and that's as far as I got. They have been sitting there on the "design bed" ever since. Nicky has picked out some fishy fabric he wanted included. He has nagged me several times when I'm ever going to work on his quilt?

As previously reported, I have been making blocks for the Princess Jellybean quilt. I am afraid if Nicky sees Alli's quilt being worked on and not his, well, he will not be too happy. So, I have finally started putting something together. This is only a start. It needs to be squared up a bit. I intend to put a border on it (with all those fishy fabrics) and I am going to applique fish in the open blue areas. Then I will have to find a longarmer to quilt it. There are so many wonderful quilters out there, I don't know who to choose. But I think it will be awhile before I have to make that decision.

Zizzy-Dot Swap - October

I had a vision of what I wanted to make, something to do with Oktoberfest, But I can never quite get what is going around in my head down on paper or fabric. The new ink in my very old printer just doesn't want to give me any colors that remotely resemble what I see on the screen. Would you believe these are green beer bottle with red labels? Well at least the leaf part came out good.




Dotti's card is gorgeous as usual. The letters are some sort of metal, copper I think. The colors are wonderful and her workmanship is great also.



I could probably make better post cards (and greeting cards) if I would just break down and buy some stuff. You know what I mean, stamps, inks, papers, do-dads and what-nots. Good grief, there is only so much one can cram into a 10x10 room.