Happy New Year

Life has been hectic and stressful these past two weeks and I have not accomplished anything in sewing or in blogging. Therefore there are no pictures to share and no projects to talk about. I have enjoyed following your blogs though, sharing in your holiday celebrations and seeing all the pictures of snow. You all provide an escape from the daily trials and I just wanted to say Thank You for that and wish you a Happy New Year!!

December Friendship Blocks

Its that time of the month again, when my friends Carol and Cheryl and I swap friendship blocks.

Carol was singing I'll Be Home for Christmas with this pretty house block that she machine appliqued. Looks like an English cottage to me - and a very lovely one!



Then the every stylish Cheryl came up with the cute pocketbook blocks to match the shoes she gave us back in June. Hmmmm...is there a dress in my future?
In the Spirit of Christmas, I did a Christmas Star block. This is actually just the center of a Christmas Star, and I like it better set on point. I am so tempted to make a full size quilt with this block.

Christmas Mantel & Tree

First..a big thank you to all of you who have been saying a prayer for my parents. Momma is still in the hospital, but it looks like she will be coming home tomorrow. Daddy is doing about the same, just missing momma. Thanks for all your notes of concern and encouragement as well.

I have really been enjoying seeing all the Christmas decorations, and thought I would share a picture of my mantel and a nativity picture my brother made for me. I made the nativity wall hanging a couple of years ago and so enjoy getting it out each year.

My mom...

I have met so many great friends in blogging and shared prayer requests and concerns and have a request now for those who share in my faith. My mom is not doing too good lately and she was admitted to the hospital with serious breathing difficulty. I would appreciate your prayers for her and my dad, who is in a nursing home. Momma usually spends her days at my dad's side, and being apart is difficult for both of them. I know she will get through this, but I pray that she will be able to walk well enough without oxygen to return to my Dad's side. Mom and Dad have been married 62 years and it is very hard for them both to be apart.

Just a followup - thank you so much for your prayers. My mom is doing better and was up and walking in the halls today. Her spirits are much better and we all see the improvement in her breathing, speech and hope in her eyes. Thank YOU!!



I have not gotten much sewing done the last couple of weeks, but did manage to finish tying my Jingle Bell Twist quilt and it is waiting on the binding now. Felicia likes it just fine without the binding.

Tag - you're it!

So, Robyn over at Daisy Quilts tagged me to reveal 7 things about myself. Hmmm...not sure there are 7 interesting things to tell. So, be prepared to be shocked!!!! (I wish there was something shocking about me to tell, LOL.)

1 - I play piano and used to sing in a ladies group called Keys of Faith. We had so much fun and we thought we sounded pretty good. Just ask any of the residents at the nursing homes that we toured, we were always on pitch and knew all the words! (Sure helps when your audience doesn't hear too good.)We had offers to go on the road (actually they wanted to pay us to get out of town). I sing alto or second soprano, and sometimes tenor. Can you tell - I don't know what I sing?

2 - I once worked for the Infernal Revenue Service as a Revenue Agent. Not very popular in these neck of the woods where you might run across a moonshiner in the woods hereabouts. ... maybe not now, but you sure could when I was growing up.

3 - Speaking of growing up, I remember telephone party lines, do you? We used to have 4 other houses on our line. If you were bored, you just picked up the phone and you could hear all about what was going on in the neighborhood - including the latest price of moonshine (25cents/quart). There was always someone talking.

4 - I don't have a favorite color, do you? I like them all ! Have to wonder why I have three times more blue than any other color in my stash though.

5 - The most recent movie I saw in a theater is Mama Mia, and I loved it! Its one of the few that I have bought the soundtrack and listen to it at work.

6 - I have a two indoor cats, Felicia who is deaf, and Topsy who is going blind - both are solid white cats. Most people think I only have one cat, cause Topsy lives under the bed and doesn't come out if anyone other than family is around. She's shy, just like me.

7 - I am blessed with a wonderful husband, 3 children, 2 children-in-law, 4 grandchildren (and one on the way), a living mother and father and wonderful friends. God is good and He is my rock and my salvation.


The rules to play TAG are these: ~ Post a link to the blog that challenged you and add these rules to your post:
~ Share 7 things about yourself~ Challenge 7 other blogs at the end of your post through naming their blog and post a link to it.
~ Let them know they're been challenged by leaving a comment on their blog

Hmm..now who should I pick. I see all of you looking down, afraid to look me in the eyes as I might pick you....so here goes:

Karen - a courageous young woman, excellent quilter and someone who inspires me
Cathi - a quilter I have known for sometime now, but whom I am learning more about now that we share an interest in blogging - check out her blog!

Ok..I am only going to name those two, as I think I have seen the rest of you do this already on your blogs. But just in case you haven't.......TAG, YOU'RE IT!

Welcome Friends and "Flakes"

Here is a little wall hanging that I have been working on and finished this weekend. Its a free pattern at http://www.mulberrystr.com/ and was fun to make. My mom wanted to make one too to hang on my father's door at the nursing home. So I traced off the pattern for her, she did the stitching and I finished the wall hanging. Her's is not quilted as she wanted it back right away and I did not have time for the hand quilting. The branch is off the oak tree in our yard, I glued some acorns on it and sprayed with glitter paint, which makes it look frosty. Looks real cute on his door.


Notice a difference in the wording on my moms and mine? She felt people would take offense at being called flakes! This became a big debate between us and I ended up covering the word "flakes" on her wall hanging with pretty foam snowflakes.

So, be ye friend or be ye flake or be ye both, you are welcome to my blog and thank you for dropping by!

Oh Christmas Tree.......

Today we put up our Christmas tree. We bought this tree two years ago, a pre-lit tree that I think is pretty without any ornaments at all, but alas, we have been collecting ornaments 34 years now, and they ALL have to go on the tree. Notice the picture in the background? That is my husband's grand
father and his TWO wives. Now before you all jump to conclusions...he remarried after his first wife died, and had three different pictures superimposed onto this one picture, and this hung in his house while he was married to my husband's grandmother (the second wife). I just love this picture - but my kids say its spooky.

I also wanted to share a picture of this cute ornament that Cathi made . She dried orange slices last year after Christmas and made these beautiful ornaments, one of which I was the lucky recipient. Thank you, Cathi!!!

Hope you are all having a good weekend and enjoying this holiday.

Check out Daisy Quilts give-away, its fantastic.

November Friendship blocks...

Tonight was such a fun night at my house. I belong to an applique group called "As the Needle Turns" (isn't that a cool name?) and we normally meet in a local church, but tonight we met at my house and had a table full of goodies to eat, and lots of fun and fellowship mixed in with a dab of sewing. I got my camera out and as usual, was enjoying myself so much I did not take any pictures. Cathi, over at Shakerwood Primitives, http://shakerwoodprimitives.blogspot.com/, was here tonight and got a couple of picures, so be sure to go on over and check out her blog and see what she has to say.

I do have pictures to share of the November Friendship block swap. The sewing machine is just absolutely beautiful and stitched by Carol. I just love this block and the three of us have really been enjoying our stitching lately. The cheerful breath of Spring daffodil is by Cheryl. Such a lovely block to receive when it is so cold and drab outside. And then, the Dutchman's Puzzle block is mine. I wanted to do something with Flying Geese blocks as I always think of the Canadian Geese (I think I have that right) that fly over our house around this time of year. I just love the sound of their "honking" as they fly over at dusk.

So, let me wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving Day and thank you for coming by.

And the winner is................

Sweet P of http://coffeetimequiltstudio.blogspot.com/ ! Congratulations and I will be sending you the goodies as soon as I get your snail mail!

Thank you all for entering my 100th post giveaway.

Teresa

Last call......

I will be drawing a name TONIGHT for my give a-way! So if you have not left a comment to get your name in the draw, do so now!!! Just remember, to be in the draw I must have either an email or a blog address to be able to get in contact with you.

And thank you again for dropping by and paying me a visit now and then.

Catching up....

Seems like it has been awhile since I told you what I have been up to quilting wise. While in Washington I did some hand stitching, finishing one of my NPNT block sets - Party Time. This was a very appropriate one to be working on DC that week as it was election week and there sure was a lot of partying going on in the streets that night when the returns came in.

I also recently finished up my November red-work BOM. This one is a nice pumpkin, making me think of pumpkin bread I make every year around this time.

I made a fun trip to Mary Jo's and came home with the perfect fabric for my KScope quilt. Remember this one? Well I was wondering how I was going to find the various shades of these colors. I didn't want really bright colors, something a little more subdued (just like me, LOL) and not a bunch of different prints, etc - but not solids either. Well the fabric I found is so cool. Its 4 different values of the same color on the same bolt - 10 inch stripes. I love the colors, I love the way the colors are shaded in each strip, and I am thrilled that I have 4 different values on each piece of fabric. Oh how I want to start cutting into this fabric...but this will have to wait awhile.

And then finally I took a workshop from Linda Cantrell on freezer paper applique. We worked on bottles and I am not too happy with mine right now - but I have big plans on how I will fix this, so stayed tuned.

If you are still here with me, then don't forget to sign up for my giveaway if you have not done so already.

Happy Stitchin!

Butterfly Award

Kathy, over at the Humble Quilter sent me this pretty award. Thanks, Kathy! And now I am to pass it on to 10 others...

Susan at Blackberry Creek Home Arts
Joanna at Applique Today
Em at Em's Scrapbag


I know this is only three, but if I don't hurry up and get off here I am going to be late for work!!! I enjoy reading these blogs and am inspired by their humor, quilting and wisdom. Thank you ladies for being a part of my blogging experience.

A great give-away

You have just got to follow this link to check out this great give-away. I tried and tried to copy the picture to my post, and nothing worked - so just follow this link..

http://stitchingcow.blogspot.com/2008/11/block-of-month-quilt-competition.html

100th Post Give-Away!

Wow...100 posts! I do enjoy looking back over my posts, and reading your comments which have always been so full of encouragement and humor. Thank you all for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment or just to take a look at what I have been up to. I also want to thank all of you bloggers out there that I follow as you have taught me quite a few things about quilting and shared your thoughts and life. I am so glad I discovered blogging!

Now, for the give-away. I purchased these Fat Quarters in Hopewell, Va at the Needle-N-Thread Quilt Shop. This is a great shop and has lots of new fabric patterns that I had not seen anywhere else. The fabric line is called Noble Family by Mizuki for Benartex. Now what better name could I find for my family of bloggers than Noble Family? I am also including one of my Cathedral Window patterns just to add a little something more personal to me. So, if you would like to win these lovely fabrics, leave a comment telling me so. You do not have to be a blogger to enter, but you do have to have an email address so that I can get in touch with you. You can send me an email telling me your email address in private if you like, but I will not include any names in the drawing that I don't have a way of contacting you if you win. I will draw a name on Sunday, November 23rd!!!

And here is what I have been working on this week. It is my Jingle Bell Twist quilt that I started at the retreat a couple of weeks ago and finished the top tonight. This was a workshop taught by Lynn Buske and was a ton of fun. Now to get this one quilted and ready to use during the holidays.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to leave a comment so I can get you in the drawing!

America, the beautiful...

I thought I would share some of the images I captured while in Washington this past week. The ride to and from DC through North Carolina and Virginia was absolutely beautiful and reminds us even in these hard times, that God is good and is still in control. The memorial is the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, VA and is just breathtaking in its simplicity and design. The Cemetery is the Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington and was just amazing in its beauty, size and history. I would like to go back there and spend a couple of hours just walking the paths and reading the markers and enjoying the beauty. The red tree was in Hopewell, Virginia and no way was I able to capture the glorious red against the bright yellows in this picture. God's beauty surrounds us if we just take a moment to enjoy it.

Within the next day or two I will be hosting a give-away for my 100th post, so stay tuned. I have some beautiful FQ's that I purchased at the quilt shop in Hopewell, Va and you will want to get your name in the hat for these!