We do not love people because they are beautiful

They seem beautiful to us because we love them

~~~Russian Proverb~~

Where did February go??

Wow hard to believe february is almost over. This has been one wild month. Between kids having the flu along with husband, taxes done & sent in, and basic life stuff I'm ready for a weekend just for me. Well I'm hoping & praying I get that this weekend coming up. A few of us friends are getting together for a weekend of sewing, laughing, and good food to get us over this crazy Ohio weather. This Ohio Weather has been from Ice/freezing rain, snow, sleet and in temps of the 50's. never know what it is going to be.

Well i finished up another quilt on miz gracie, well actually two done. My cousin's dad quilt of deer she made for him for christmas, but she didn't get the top done until right before christmas & I didn't have time to machine quilt it until now. I also got my aunt purdy's quilted out too, just need to put the binding on it. I finished all of my embroidered bible quilt blocks now to decide on what kind of sashing or setting to use with them. here is a picture of them.

They are done on unbleached muslin, 8 1/2"x11". So thought about doing flying geese, gulp, that would be a lot to do. maybe scrappy in fabrics?? wanting something to make them go wow!!

will have to think about.

Neat quote

Love if you have it you don't need anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter what else you have~~~~

J.M. Barrie

Quilters Non Profit

Well I've had on my heart now for over a year to do a non profit geared with something with quilting. I keep thinking about have a whole notebook full of ideas etc. So I decided this is the year I'm going to try to get it started, with the help from God cause I feel this is coming from him.

So I took a grant writing class yesterday which was pretty neat to do and learn something. Wow there is a lot to do with this very informative.

I'm wanting to do a non profit benefiting ladies who are dealing with cancer/diabetes/ or some other awful illness. I've got a ton of idea's swirling thru my head just need to get them down on paper, weed them all out, get a mission statement all wrote up and get my paper work filed for a 501c3. then we are off. so any ideas please email me,I'd appreciate any comment/idea that comes my way.

I've got a couple of gals to bounce ideas off of but we get so tired of bouncing our head on the wall. If there are any thing that would make your life easier going thru an illness to reduce your stress, raise your self esteem/confidence, or quality of life please let me Know. I'm not sure what direction this will all be going but.............. I'm going to give it a try.

what a month~~

Boy this month has just flown by, been busy with the kids, house crap and mostly trying to keep warm. Hadn't sewn a whole lot this month.Now I have two quilts that finally got quilted but still need binding on them, which is the absolute most boring thing for me to do. I hate doing binding, I would much rather pay someone else to do it or trade something to someone to do it, LOL.

i love making tops, puttting them together then I feel so good it is the rest of the process I don't really get a "high" off of. Now I'm on my last block of the antique roses quilt so hopefully will be getting it done before I go to a retreat to work on the pieced sashing & borders.

With this cold weather I just can't seem to get into the mood to sew, want to snuggle under a quilt with a good book which I pretty much did all weekend. I love days like that every once in awhile but seems like when I do that house crap gets all piled up.

I think I'll put my feet up snuggle under a quilt and do some embroidery while veggin out on some DVR stuff.

Happy Anniversay~~~ 18 years

Here is picture of me and my mom Kay and my Dad Jim.

Her is Clyde and me after we got married, man I love that dress, too bad I can't fit into a size 5 anymore~~~ I love that train. I made all the flowers and headpiece
Here is clyde taking off my garder at our reception. Those were the days
Here is our whole group. My sister was the maid of honor Maria, Clyde's sister Angie, My cousin Danielle, Clyde's Step sister Chris, and my friend Tina. My neice was the flower girl Krista. The guys Mark was Best man, Brother Roger ( aka Boo), Step brother Phil, friends Danny and Kevin.
Here I am shoving cake up his nose, I mean I shoved it.

Well come the 13th of January I'll be married a total of 18 years to a wonderful guy, that I've been truely blessed having him in my life. We got married back in 1990, both us were didn't know what we were getting into, but has been a great ride. Hopefully we can reach a 25th or even a 50th anniversary. We'vehad a few rough patches, have two wonderful boys and a pretty good relationship. I posted pictures of our wedding day, we paid for our own wedding & couldn't afford a photographer so we relied on friends and family for pictures. Some are kinda good and some are dark, oh well we had such a fun time. a few have asked us how do we stay together, we always reply, be as honest as possible, love one another for who you are & accept one another including your faults. Marriage isn't easy but if you work at it, so worth it. Nothing like you see on TV, they forget to show you the everyday crap, the tears, and basically dealing with everyday life. No one in this life is perfect and you shouldn't expect you spouse is, if you aren't either. Don't try to change one another into something you think you want or what he/she should be, accept them for who they are faults and all. You know the grass may be greener on the other side but you still have to mow it.
Don't you love the hair do's in these pictures?? And we were the bomb then too. memories are so wonderful, and all started when two people fell in love.

Have a great weekend~~~

UFO Challenge~~

Well it is already 2008 hard to believe but here it is and boy did it come in like a lion. we woke up to 3" of snow and more coming down. I love to watch it fall, so beatiful and innocent. The boys are home from school and it was their first day back after Christmas break.
Well UFO Challenge at the Ohioquilters has begun. This was started so we could make room for the new stuff you always see while at the quilt shop & have to leave with. i Know I have well over 100 plus patterns that are screaming out pick me, pick me next. Not including the stash that I have in cabinets, drawers, and baskets just dieing to be put into a quilt. So a bunch of us posted our before pictures of our UFO's, and we have until 6 months to complete what we can and post the after pictures as well. Prizes to be given out at the end. But the biggest prize to each of us is completing them and screaming out loud "YES!!!!" .
So Here is my list of the first 10 I'm going to do.
Indian summer
Bible Quilt
Golden Rule
Heartland crossing
Jellie bellies
07" May Retreat Mystery
Antique Roses
Kansas Trouble Spider quilt
Civil War blues/browns
Raspberry truffle
I posted a picture of the Antique Roses there are 4 of these really huge blocks with side pieced sashing and them pieced borders. I love the colors of it. Got it as a kit at the NQA show back in 2006.
All of the "roses" are blanket stitched down.
So let the fun begin

Ashley's Quilt all done

I quilted out my cousin Danielle's daughter Ashley's quilt for her & just gave it to her this past week. This is the 2nd quilt my Cousin has made. Ashley loves the colors of purple, pink and lime green. I found some verigated thread to used and it turned out nice. She just wanted an overall pattern. I love the daisy's for the backing, so cute & fun!!
I believe Danielle has caught the quilting bug, she made another quilt for her dad for christmas. She gave him the top said she needed it back to have it quilted, LOL. The cat in the picture is mischeif who jumps on any quilt that hits the floor she thinks is her own.

My christmas KT Wallhanging

We did a christmas exchange on the Kt Stitchers group, and Beth made me this wonderful wallhanging. I really love it, can't wait to put it on one of walls in my quilting room so i can see it a lot. She did a wonderful job quilting it out plus the binding on that is awesome. Neat pattern

Brother getting tablerunner

Well here are the pictures of my brother Jimmy getting his table runner and the lable I put on the back for him. He really liked it, said it is about 4" on both ends short, :)

another table runner top done

well i finally got the top done for my brother for christmas. He built a 7'and 11" table that is really primitive looking. so for christmas I made him a 7" long table runner, going to machine quilt it tomorrow. one down maybe i'll make a couple more for christmas, they do go by quick.
here is a picture of it without the black border. I just hope he likes it, well he better.

December already!!!

Gosh were did November go?? was here and then boom turning the calender over and it is december. bbrrr does it feel like the wind is kicking up making it so much colder here in ohio, time to throw an extra quilt on bed.
Well been busy with decorating the house, got the outside done, lights are up, Mary & joseph is up all left is getting my reindeer out. Still no tree up but presents are wrapped. Still have a little bit of shopping let for the boys.
I've got some table runners to get done, one for my online KT group, going to try my best to get some other ones done for christmas gifts if not always next year, LOL.
i'm hoping to be sewing all this week, no doctor appointment or anything this whole week. Got all my house work done yesterday so should be smooth sailing this week. I'll post some pictures if I get anything completed. wish me luck

Some People ~~

I was cleaning out a bunch of paper work today and came across this that I had wrote down on a scrap piece of paper. I'm thinking of stitchin this unto some fabric put some small quilt blocks as a border and putting on my wall.
Here is what I wrote down. Not sure where I seen it at.

Some People
Some People come into our lives and Quickly Go
Some People move our souls to Dance
They Awaken us to new Understanding with the Passing
whispers of their Wisdom
some people make the Sky More Beautiful to gaze Upon.
They stay in our lives for awhile,leave footprints on our Hearts
and we are never ever the same.

How true the above is. I mean I have some really great friend whom no matter when we see or talk to another we just pick up where we left off. We accept each other for who we are mistakes and all. I have some that have came into my life and stayed awhile & we are no longer in each other lives, but I'm thankful to have known them. Not sure what happened within the friendship but that is in the past. I've learned a lot myself thru knowning some of the friends that came into my life which I'm oh so grateful.

Block swaps & more

Well finished up some birthday blocks, yea~~~ This block was called Brasstown Star, my friend Kris sent in the middle fabric along with the gold, I supplied the green and red. So one down only 4 more birthday blocks to finish up and then done for the year.

These blocks are from a Block Swap from Kt Stitchers, called All Stars. They are done up in KT line called Snowblooms. Mine is the red one pinwheel in the middle. I'll add some more blocks to make up a neat quilt done up in star style blocks and KT Snowblooms. I will probable take a break next year from block swapping unless it is with a certain line. Those swaps seem to go together nicely plus you know what you getting back as in fabric. I hate sending out nice quilt shop fabric & get cheap fabric back. Kinda makes you wonder if they are using the cheap fabric just to get rid of it or what.

Happy Halloween

The last day of October has finally arrived~~~ Won't be long and Christmas will be here. I finally got a bunch of birthday blocks completed for the group, can't wait to finish all of them up and sent out. I seem to be dragging behind on them, my mind is elsewhere. I got all of my fabric together for my christmas block swap that is due end of the week. I picked out the pattern Saw tooth Star for one set, who knows I may do another set while I"m at it. I've got some really pretty christmas fabric done up in greens and reds, with gold intertwined. Seems like this time of the year I just can't get in the mood to sew unless it is last minute stuff. I'm not into christmas fabrics much but my mom is so I may give this to her for christmas, LOL.
I found another project to do to add to my numerous list a jacob's ladder done up in civil war prints it was in dec/jan Quilt Magazine. Such Drooling material~~~ I absolutely fell in love with it done up in those fabrics.
well off to take my youngest son trick or treating~~~~ Happy Halloween~~~~

KT Table Runner

Here is the table runner I finally got around to machine quilting, yep even done the binding, Yippee!!! This was made by Ellen who owns Honey Fork Fabrics, we did this in a table runner swap at Ohioquilters.com. I love it. This is going on my Cedar Chest that my Dad gave my Mom when they were married. Looks wonderful there. I love the colors and those daisys are so cute. You can't see the quilting thread which was a varigated YLI called Earth which has some cream, tan, cranberry, dk Green and navy in it, goes beautiful with the Kansas Troubles Fabric.

Quilting Done and Friendship

Well yesterday was a great day. Had some friends (nurse Nancy, Pat, and Debbie Bockneck)over to show them my grace machine frame, one of the girls bought one and wanted to see how I did my quilting. We had lots of laughs and fun. We even went down to shop that is called the bargin barn ( which is a few houses down from me) to look & maybe buy something. This is a huge concrete building like a huge yardsale indoors. I ended up getting a mega huge snow shovel for $3.00, a shirt for my son, a carhart jacket and a pair of mini mudd short, only spent a total of $6.00. I'm going to take the shorts to make a purse out of, they had some cute designs on the pocket. Also talked on of my friends to make some too, heck for a $1.00 a pair couldn't pass it up.
It was such a wonderful day,much needed on my end. Hope to do it again.
i'll post the table runner I got finished, turned out quite nice.
So now I'm in the mood to get some of those tops done finally~~~~
Wish me luck.

10 ways to have a good day

found this & thought I would share.

10 Rules For A Good Day

TODAY I WILL NOT STRIKE BACK: If someone is rude, if someone is impatient, if someone is unkind...I will not respond in a like manner.
TODAY I WILL ASK GOD TO BLESS MY "ENEMY": If I come across someone who treats me harshly or unfairly, I will quietly ask God to bless that individual. I understand the "enemy" could be a family member, neighbor, co-worker, or a stranger.
TODAY I WILL BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT I SAY: I will carefully choose and guard my words being certain that I do not spread gossip.
TODAY I WILL GO THE EXTRA MILE: I will find ways to help share the burden of another person.
TODAY I WILL FORGIVE: I will forgive any hurts or injuries that come my way.
TODAY I WILL DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEONE, BUT I WILL DO IT SECRETLY:I will reach out anonymously and bless the life of another.
TODAY I WILL TREAT OTHERS THE WAY I WISH TO BE TREATED: I will practice the golden rule - "Do unto others as I would have them do unto me" - with everyone I encounter.
TODAY I WILL RAISE THE SPIRITS OF SOMEONE I DISCOURAGED: My smile, my words, my expression of support, can make the difference to someone who is wrestling life.
TODAY I WILL NURTURE MY BODY: I will eat less; I will eat only healthy foods. I will thank God for my body.
TODAY I WILL GROW SPIRITUALLY: I will spend a little more time in prayer today: I will begin reading something spiritual or inspirational today; I will find a quiet place and listen to God's voice !

October already~~ WOW

Hard to believe it is October already, the leaves are turning looking so beautiful. The air is nippy which is wonderful. Before we know the big holidays will be here. It has been so hard to get back into the mood to quilt, I wanna read, get the house ready for winter, actually clean, LOL. Just seems like one thing after another keeps pulling me away from what relaxes me the most. I might have to start not answering the phone, and designate certain days/hours to sew. I've got a ton of project to work on. Josh's skate shop is being put on hold until maybe around december which I think is a good thing, I still hope the empty shop space is still there, if not then God has a better spot for it, if it is meant to be.
I'm still working on the non profit idea I'm wanting to do Hopefully come February I will be filing the paper work to make it official. So with many prayers & faith this will get off the ground. I feel women need a place to go, relax, enjoy themselves without the outside work coming in. A women/mother needs a break every now and then to re energize herself, feel good about herself, basically just to get away. I'm hoping to have that place very soon. a place where a women can let her hair down be her true self without feeling judge by other, appreciated for whom she is and the person God created her to be. It has taken me years, lot of therapy/prayers to realize that I'm love by God no matter how many mistakes I make, I can be my "true" self without feeling like I'm being judged by others & also be accepted by others as well. So that is how the "healing Quilt" has came about. A women has so many "roles" to be in life, sometimes she just needs a break from life so she can be good for others around her.

Quote for the day
Money doesn't bring happiness and creativity. Your creativity and happiness brings money."

How true is that Quote~~~ I mean if you are doing what you love in life the rest will follow along with the money. Life is too short to be working in a job because of the money, do something you love and it will follow~~~

Blocks done and deer season begins

Here are some blocks I made yesterday, they turned out quite well, need to trim a few still :)

I started these at the quilt retreat this past weekend. I dug them out of my kit containers, looks like there are around 24 blocks total very easy to put together. I love the softness of the pinks and the white on white fabric is quite nice as well. Thinking about putting these on point maybe with some type of lattic strips inbetween them, not sure on the color. I wonder what this would look like with white on white between the blocks and using a multi colored thread for the quilting~~~~

I believe I'm going get a top on the frame tomorrow while the boys, ( including hubby) goes hunting. Deer season has came in, let the fun begin. I hope Clyde get some good footage for the video team he is a member of which is slunger hollow productions. Yep they have a website http://www.slungerhollow.com/ . Our youngest boy will be hunting for the first time this year, so I'll need to stay busy so my mind stays occupied, who knows I may end up going this year.

Well better get some more laundry finished up. Figured more stuff I can get done today more time to quilt tomorrow.

Well finally everything has been put back from the retreat, wow what a job that was. I had a great time at retreat, good food, lots of laughter, sewing without interuptions, no husband or kids needing or wanting something. Such heaven~~~

The picture is one of the tops I finished, Yea~~~ I also won a cool bag full of goodies as well, so I shared the wealth. This retreat was just what I needed before the holidays start rolling around. So now maybe I'll have some motivation to get stuff done finally, hhhhhmmmm maybe even get some quilted out. This one will go into the pile.

Dryer just went off so better get those clothes out so I don't have to iron them. write more later about the retreat.

oh here is a link to more pictures of the read, don't forget to read the captions too

http://community.webshots.com/user/ohioquilter2

KT Stitchers Swap Block & Taco Soup

well that is a picture of my swap block(s) i'm sending in. This is for a group called ktstitchers. It is a wonderful group of ladies that when we swap it is nothing but Kansas Troubles fabric. So you know your quilt will look awesome. these blocks will have the line called Snow Blooms in them and nothing but Star patterns. Can't wait to get them back at the end of September. It will probable end up a UFO for awhile because I'm trying my best to get some other stuff put together atleast, and then hopefully get quilted out, LOL. Well getting ready for the upcoming quilt retreat going thru my stash of stuff I want to get rid of to sell at the quilters yard sale tables, got some nickels put together, patterns, fat quarters and hard to tell what else I can find & price before I leave Friday A.M. I've got 3 ufo's to put together the rows, a couple of other quilt projects hopefully I can get them cut out before I leave so won't have to do that. Well heading back into the kitchen to make a pot of Taco Soup to eat on all day. Here is the recipe.

Taco Soup

a can of each corn, white navy beans, kidney beans, black beans, diced tomatoes & large can of tomatoe juice either regular or V8

one package of ranch dressing dry mix & one taco seasoning.

1 small package of sasauge links ( any flavor but maple, spicy is nice if you like things spicy) cooked and cut up in chunks.

1 lb of hamburger cooked, drained.

Put everything in a pot and cook for 25-30 or so minutes on medium heat, stirring often so don't burn the bottom. Eat with cheese on top, some sour cream and good taco chips. I've also been known to throw in some cooked/shredded chicken in it too.

if you make it let me know what you think~~~~

The Name Game

the name game, this was kinda fun

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car), Rosey Minivan

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie),moosetracks sugar

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name),CCar

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal),Pink Bunny

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born),Sue Chillicothe

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first),CarCa

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink),The Blue Tea

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers),Omer Earl

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy),Musk Hersey Bar

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ),Kay Harvey

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter),Lewis Lexington

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower).Autumn Daisy

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)Strawberry T-Shirt

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),Raisin bran Maple

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”),The Quilting Snow Tour.

So what is your "names"??leave a comment so I can read yours. :D

snowman blocks

Well I finally got my blocks done which was last week now I remembered to put them on here. they were so fun to do so I might just make some more. I couldn't find any patterns so kinda drew my own, flashback of being pattern designer comes back to me. talk about past catching back up with you. boy those were the times. lots of creative things kept flowing thru my head, too bad I didn't have enough time to do them all. Might just keep the ones in the swap and add to them over the next few months.

Confidence

Been catching up on some reading & finally getting some motivation to quilt some. This summer has flown by, school is back in session, & before we know it Christmas holidays will be here already.
As I was reading a book by Joyce Meyers called "A Leader in the Making" I came across a wonderful saying. "If nobody else in the world believes in you, God Does. With that confidence you can do whatever He wants you to do". Talk about a light bulb moment, ding,ding,ding~~~
I know with me in such a lack of confindence, self-esteem and always "dreaming" this was such a great thing to read & sink into my lil ole brain. Got me to really thinking you know God is the one who gives you the ideas, dreams, & wants, he knows what is in your heart like no one else does, since he does don't you think he'd be the one to really honestly truely believe in YOU!!! I know for me it has been on my heart to find some land, beable to purchase it, and built a retreat place for quilters, especially ones with cancer to come and have an enjoyable time, beable to leave all of your troubles behind for a little while, relax & not feel judge or pitied. But that ole me keeps coming up with excuses, no follow thru, and just plain ole "you can't do that". After reading that passage I'm beginning to wonder "hey girl you can cause someone believe in you and with him on yourside how can you go wrong". Lots to think about.~~~~

That retreat is a couple weeks away & so much to do, making some gifties, printing off stuff, getting my list(s) all together so I don't forget anything. I haven't been overly excited about it for some reason, but I know once I get there I'll be having a great time. Always have trouble with the leaving part, but once I'm there look out I'm all smiles & giggles.

Getting Ready for another Retreat

Well finally school is back in session, I get my life back, LOL. A routine is already starting gosh is feels so great. I'm getting ready for another quilt retreat, hopefully I can get some UFO's finished & ready to quilt. I'm starting to get my "pile" together to take with me. I'm so looking forward to some time away after the summer I had, no kids, no husband, no cooking, no cleaning, no wanting to change your name from "MOM". Pure Relaxing~~~. The one I'll be going to is in Jackson ohio at a 4-H camp. so nice and peaceful. Here is all of the information about it at www.ohioquilters.com/SeptemberRetreat.html. Want to join in the fun.

Got to finish up my quilt blocks for a swap i'm in call all my stars which is going to be done up in nothing but Kansas Troubles Snow Bloom line. So yummy~~~ can't wait to get these back and put them together.

I should make a list of UFO's and things so i can stay on track. I wouldn't know what to do without my "lists", I'm such a list maker, LOL.

The picture is of some flowers I planted this past summer in an old rustied out double wash tub. I love how the colors just go together. would make a beautiful quilt.

Off to Quilting we will go

Finally have some time for quilting, Yea~~ Hopefully this summer has slowed down for me some. I've got revival all this week going on but so far the day time is looking quite nicely.

I posted a picture of part of my quilting room which is a converted small garage size is 16x24'. I machine quilt on a grace machine frame and with a Janome 1600 DBX. I'd love to have a bigger throated machine but I'm content with what I have. I'll admit I love having the space to work on projects, leave it and come back to it later when I want it. I keep most of my fabric in the cabinets sorted by colors. The drawers to the left in the picture has anything 1/2 yard smaller in there sorted by style, example: civil war, country, w.o.w fabric, 1930's, flannels and mixed. There are 3 scrap baskets under my cutting table once they are full I start cutting them in squares from sizes 6"-1" in size and place them in drawers maked by size.

So now I'm going to put one of my 9 tops on frame to get them quilted, I hope. I'm making a list of them so I can start marking them off as I get them completed.

What to do with These Strips

Well been swapping out some 1930's strips now I don't know what I'm going to make with them. any ideas would be greatly welcomed, so please post away. but please, please don't mention a log cabin quilt, those drive me insane while sewing, my lil mind can't take it, LOL.

I've got a lot of 1930's in my stash I'm willing to cut into more strips if needed, trying to reduce my stash so that isn't a problem.

I need some motivation in getting my butt in gear so help a quilter out here, LOL

Here is a picture of some of the strips. Aren't they gorgeous~~~

another Week gone by

Wow another week has gone by, still not sewing much, just can't get motivated except for some birthday blocks in the Ohioquilters group and Ross County guild blocks for our 2008 raffle quilt.

I'll blame my lack of motivation on the weather, yep summer is here. Our garden is coming along nicely, already eating cucumbers. Nothing like picking fresh cucumbers, peeling it, put alittle bit of catalina dressing and eat away. Tomatoes should be ripe enough in another week or so. I can't wait for them to get ripe, I love getting fresh tomatoes, wiping the dirt off, put alittle bit of salt & have at it. So yummy especially when still warm from the vine. Nothing like a store bought one, that is for sure. We planted pole beans this year & have them on a 4' tall fence in which they've already surpassed & now are growing back down. This is the first time we've planted them I hope they are good coooked up. Our zucchini is coming along nice too, already have a couple tiny ones. Hope this year to can some, haven't done any canning for a long time but am thinking about it this year. My flowers are blooming & the hummingbirds are zooming around. I put a picture of one of the hummingbirds I caught with the camera. So relaxing listening & watching them buzz around. Also a picture of one of my flowers i planted, which I'm considering making this into a wallhaning using fusible applique & maybe embellishing too. I thought it would be very pretty.

We are still looking for some land to buy here somewhere in ross county or close to ross county. Just haven't found what we are looking for at the right price. I'm sure it will come when it is suppose to, if not I'll be content with staying here on our little 1 acre place.

We finished up vacation bible school last week. That was lots of fun, the kids had a great time, & finally my oldest son has taken an interest in going to church which is such a blessing. So we are going back to church more often which is nice, now if I can talk my husband into going. Which will happen in his time. My oldest is doing driving which is going along nice, so far no close calls, so I'm happy with that.

So leaving you with a recipe that is wonderful to snack on or take to a get together.

This is so yummy~~~

Pineapple Pretzel Fluff

INGREDIENTS 1 cup coarsely crushed pretzels 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted 1 cup sugar, divided 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

DIRECTIONS In a bowl, combine pretzels, butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees F for 7 minutes. Cool. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and remaining sugar until creamy. Fold in pineapple and whipped topping; chill until serving. Break pretzel mixture into small pieces; stir into pineapple mixture.

NQA Show What a Blast

Well went to the NQA show here in Columbus, Ohio and had a blast. Wish I would have felt better but my alergeries were given me a run for my money, they were awful. Wished I could have stayed longer to visit with more friends & enjoy it more but oh well.

I did get to walk around with my good friend Bonnie Graham from Parkersburg, WV. We had a good time drooling over the quilts, trying to find some great buys at the show too.

Met up with some other friends from the Ohioquilters Online group too, which is always so much fun.

Here is a picture of one of my favorites up top, plus the quilting on it. I'm loving the mixture of pinks and browns/ tans. One of my new favorite loves.

I did pick up only one quilt kit, a couple yards of fabric and a few fat quarters. Oh and some machine quilting thread I was wanting to try. Lord knows I need to get going on those tops I have 9 ready to put on my grace frame to get quilted.

My oldest son has gotten his drivers permit, so we've been busy with that with driving school, plus weight lifting for fall football, and normal things. My youngest is signed up for bookworm which he loves to do. Plus this week vacation bible school which is a lot of fun for all, I sit in on adult bible study which I love to do, so interesting & really makes you think about life.

Our garden is coming along nicely we tried pole beans this year, hopefully the rabbit will stay out of them, have 12 tomatoe plants, cucumber which we also have growing on a trelis, zuchinni plants, plus some flowers in between the rows. I'm hoping this year to try my hand at some canning, maybe even go to the amish auction to buy some vegetables to can also but we will see.

Another top to add to the pile

Well I finished an online mystery last week, was pretty fun and turned out great too. We also sent out a package to a person in an exchange I got some wonderful needles, a pattern & everything to make it with also a scrapbag & pincushion. I'd been eyeing one of these for a long time but never made any, now there is now excuse but time!!! Plus she sent me some

5" charms from kT line of aunt purdy, love those charms, and she also makes her own soy candles, so she tucked some in there of them, they are out of this world~~~ wonderful, smelling and burns nicely too. check out her website tell her Carolyn from KT Camp sent ya. www.kskreations.com They are some great candles.

I also got some 1930's reproduction 3" strips from an online centralized swap at the ohioquilters group www.ohioquilters.com and they are great!! Don't know what I"m going to use mine for yet but will come up with something I'm sure. These are some great gals to exchange with. I must say I'll be signing up for the 3" strip swap again. I love the kitty ones, along with the scotty dogs and don't forget the chickens too. My favorites of the 1930's reproductions are the flowers especially daisy's. I love those.

Heading to another retreat

well I'm a week away from heading to another quilt retreat. I'm so excited~~ I'm packing away some UFO's, some other items I'm wanting to get completed ( I hope) and maybe start some new things.
This is my last one before fall hits them one more I'll be done for the year.
I'll be charging up the camera for some great picture taking I hope. don't know if I'll be doing much shopping since I'm trying my very very best to work out of my stash as much as possible.
Gosh that is going to be so hard being up there with other quilter on a buying frenzie and a bunch of awesome quilt shops with some great prices~~

Organization~~~~

Well here it is April and getting into the "spring" cleaning mood and simplify my sewing area. Well I have a 16x24' converted garage as my sewing area. I love it. Clyde my hubby insulated and put up strand board with lots of outlets and lighting. I've been adding cupboards as the extra cash comes available. I've got a L-shaped sewing table and another huge desk to sew or craft on. Clyde even bought me a dorm size refrigerator to put in there as well. Now only if I had a bathroom I'd probable never leave there. I keep my grace machine quilter in there. We were discussing organzation on the ohioquilters list, and I told them about the container I use to keep all of my "feet", accessories, thread etc when I go on a retreat. ( which I'm leaving come May for another quilt retreat, pure heaven) so I've enclosed a picture of what I use. I picked this up in the hardware section it is used actually to put assorted sizes of nail, nuts & bolts ect. Has a nice tight lid on it, plus I can carry pretty much all I need for a retreat. For example extra thread, prewound bobbins, stuff to clean my machine, extra feet, an electric adapter, cutters, sissors, glue stick ( paper piecing), and just about anything. This also fits nicely in my rolling tote that I put my machine in. I love new ideas on how to organize my stuff.

Quilt Retreats~~~ A piece of Heaven

Well went to another quilt retreat the weekend of March 2-4th, 2007 and Had a ball~~. I don't understand why more women don't do this. I had so much fun. Met up with 8 Ohioquilters members there, we laughed, teased one another, sewed, ate, laughed some more and made some lasting friendships. This was such a wonderful weekend. I believe more women should be going to these just to get away from everyday life. You can go there, and be goofy for the whole weekend, guess what no one cares your a little bit nuts, because they are being the same way. The best part is no phones to answer ( unless of course you leave your cell phone on),your not a taxi, your not making dinner, your not cleaning up after others, not being a referee and lots of other things I could list. The best part you can do what you want when you want to. When you are heading home you just feel so relaxed and can't wait to start sewing again on some quilts. I recommend going to one of these at least once a year. You do get to meet some wonderful women that enjoys the same hobby as you plus who knows what other hobbys you might have the same interest. If you get the chance to go to a quilt retreat do so, you'll never regret it. I can't wait until May for my next one then it will on to September for my last one of the year.

A table Runner Completed

Here is a couple pictures of the table runner I completed for a swap in the Ohioquilters Yahoo group. I got my friend Ellen who owns Honey Fork Fabrics, which is a wonderful online & brick/mortar shop here in Logan, Ohio. She wanted an american theme. So I came across this pattern online which reminded me as the fireworks you see exploding in reds & blues. I hope she likes it as much as I liked making it for her.

The Red that looks like dots is actually stars, what looks like black is a dark navy and the paisley is on a white background.

Another UFO Bits the dust

Well yesterday I finished up another UFO called American Crossroads. i found this in the quilt sampler magzine last year, it was featuring one of my favorite quilt shops called Quilt Plus in Indiana. I dug thru all of my scraps done up in dark navys, blues, dark pinks, tans/browns and some shirtings. away i went. Well got distracted bag them up along with the magazine in a ziploc and put them in my pile of kits in the baskets. Well I decided this year I was going to get a lot of those kits etc done. Well another is done, BUT i may put a couple of boarders on it, maybe a pink small one about a 1" then a larger one in blue for the final with a tan binding.

So far I have about 9 quilt tops to get quilted this spring once the weather warms up. With the price of propane I don't want to run it too much out there in the sewing room. I machine quilt all of mine on my grace machine quilting frame using a Janome 1600 DBX which I love. Investing in that has saved me so much money on sending them out. Worth every dime. I send some still out for custom work atleast until I get better, LOL.

The snow has came & gone, but boy do we have some ice leftover. Which I would loved more snow then the ice. Talking more snow this weekend which is a possiblity. Well I'll just put on a pot of soup, warm up some bread & keep on quilting.

Now I'm working on my pedels for a quilt called Aunt purdy's palor. Need some hand work for the evenings so I'm applique them on each block.

Snows a Coming~~ I can Sew, Sew, Sew

Well Snow is suppose to be coming late tonight along with Yikes!! Ice. ( bad,bad word) Let it snow all it wants as long as the electric is on I'm fine. I've dug out two ufo's to work on, plus a tablerunner for a swap I'm in, along with 2 birthday blocks in the Ohioquilters online group. So I'm content with staying home and sewing. I'm hoping this year to complete most of my ufo's that I have in my sewing room. But the question is what am I going to do with all of these quilts when they are done. :0) I'm sure I can find something to do with them. One of the ufo's is called American Crossroads, I purchased the kit at a quilt shop called Quilt plus. I love the blues, pinks, tans and creams. I added to the selection of fabric they sent to me, most of them are vintage looking or civil war reproductions. The other ufo I dug out is called Aunt Purdy's parlor quilt. It was another block swap, need to make some more of the border and add all of the leaves. I believe I"m going to add them buy using fusible lightweight interfacing and machine applique them, but we will see. It will look nice once completed. Why is it we ( quilters) have UFO's?? I mean do we get that bored with the fabric? Don't like the pattern any longer? Are we all adults with A.D.D? Or is it something catches our eye and we hafta start it now!!! I know on a recent trip up to the Glass thimble in Columbus, Ohio with some girlfriends. I saw this quilt called Home Sweet Home done up in creams, dk. muted pinks, robin egg blue, sage green and gorgeous tans. Well I just stood their gazing at how beautiful it was. I knew then I had to make this quilt. So guess what I bought the book, now looking for that perfect background fabric and collecting the other fabric for the houses etc. so I can get started on it!! Yep, here is another one started before long, LOL hopefully not a UFO!!!
Stay Warm~~~ Pray for electric during the next couple days so I can sew, sew, sew~~~~

Another quilt top done, Yea!!!

Well I finished another top. It is called Chelsea's Boutique done up in my favorite lines of fabric called Kansas troubles. It turned out rather nicely and used up a bunch of scraps, which is always a plus. I did this in 3 days while being snowed in with the kids this week. Had to do something to keep my sanity.
Was a very easy pattern, plus i simplified it and instead of uning 4 7/8" square to make 1/2 square triangles I dug out my 5" charms I purchased for another quilt project. Use them instead, which was a major time savor, and trimmed them down to 4 1/2" after sewing them. Now I have to replace my charms to do the other quilt. Don't you love how the colors just go together? One more quilt that went into the "need" to be quilted pile. Now up to 8 boy I wish the weather would warm up so I can go out there & sew without turning on the heaters.

Log Cabin blocks all done

Well finally got all of my 6 1/2" log cabin blocks done for a quilt. I was needing to make 104 of them and 80 flying geese to make a quilt called double duty by mis rosie. I did these all in scraps of Kansas trouble fabrics. Will send some in to swap with other quilters and then once those are returned I'll put it all together.

Spent the most wonderful day on sat with some friends. Visited a quilt shop in columbus, Ohio called The Glass Thimble. It was a shop I visited a while back but the people there were kinda snobby, acted like it was a bother for them to wait on you, stuff every where, and kinda had the feeling of drab unbecoming. Well they sold the shop to some new owners this past fall. The new owners have done such a wonderful Job, Love the shop. It felt so clean, well organized, lite and airy. The gals working were oh so helpful & polite. Wonderful lighting and just gorgeous inside. Will definately return there. I found a quilt top I just fell in love with called home sweet home by blackbird designs, done up in robin egg blue, muted pinks, buttery yellows and lite tans. They were sold out of the book. So started searching on the internet~~~found the book & found out they have block of the month also, hhmmm but every place is filled up, gggrrrrrr. so this is going to be one of my projects to do up my own quilt and hopefully get it completed by the end of the year.~~~~~ I hope.~~~~

Well been awhile since I've posted anything, been so busy with life. Boy life just seems to get in the way of quilting at times. So it is a new year, hopefully a great year. It is snowing and looks so fresh & clean outside. Right now I'm working on so much, lets see~~~ We've got the Ohioquilters retreat coming up in May finalizing things with that, the Chillicothe Guild starting a new raffle quilt, and working on my own stuff. Trying to get done some of those UFO's done up this year. I've got 3 I'm wanting to get done by the end of March BUT I keep getting caught up in some wonderful online projects with some yahoo groups. Hate to miss out on anything with them. Here is a picture of one of those I did, thru an online group. All done up in Kansas Troubles fabric. The pattern is called Itsy Bitsy Spider. Love how it turned out but oh so time consuming. I decided to use up a lot of my scraps and took much longer than expected. But made a dent in my stash. :)
That is one of my goal this year is to cut down my stash, I know such a drastic thing to do but I do have so much. Plus maybe make room for some of the fabric I truely love. I have fabric when I look at it I'm thinking now " What was I thinking buying that? Was I on some drugs?" so it is being used as charity quilts or as backings. Now don't get me wrong it is beautiful fabric, but not my cup of tea any more.
Well off to sew some 6" log cabin blocks with 1/2 square triangle centers used in a block swap. I've already done up all of my flying geese. The pattern is called Double duty, going to be done up in all Kansas troubles fabric.

My newest addition

Here is my newest addition to our family. Her name is Mischief & boy does she live up to her name. She is about 4 1/2 months old, she was another drop off. She loves to play, which I think keeps the other older cats on their toes ( or should i said Paws) for sure. Here is one of her favorite spots to sleep in. Doesn't she look all comfortable? Well getting ready to start sewing my 30's quilt swap blocks that are due end of the week. Only have 12 blocks to make, Yea!!! Also a birthday block swap is due too. Gosh things piled up because of the quilt show, now need to play catch up.

Life back to normal~

Well have the quilt show behind me. Now I've got to get caught up on my two upcoming swaps and a birthday blocks~~ Kids are back to school so hopefully once we get a routine set up will be more time for quilting. Have some christmas gifts to get done.
Debating right now to rejoin one of my quilt guilds there just seems to be quite a lot of drama and high school clicky crap going on, which I hate to get involved in. Plus it is a drive for me 40 minutes one way & gas prices need I say more. plus I'm not really getting anything from it, which I feel is sad cause there are talented people in that group, but don't like to share.
well gotta finish my house work for the week so I can sew, sew all week.

Quilt Show Has begun

Well the quilt show starts today. We spent yesterday with a NQA judge, writing comments for over 150 quilted items, then hung the quilt show after that. Made for a long long day, but learned a lot and had fun too. Plus seeing all of those gorgeous quilted items, makes you want to run home and quilt.

Well I ended up with 3 - 1st place ribbons, 1 - 3rd place. Not too bad for entering in 9 items. I recieved a first place for my black & batik quilt, one for my 1930's miniature quilt, and one for a amish trip around the world wallhanging that was hand-quilted. The 3rd place was for my nine patch on point quilt that was hand-quilted. I was so thrilled. This was my first time entering a show, always have been so nervous & I'm funny about letting other look at my stuff & making comments. Cause you know sometimes those comments you don't want to hear.

The NQA judge we had was Lorraine Covington. She was awesome!! Had a great personality, always had something nice to say about each item, plus commented on where you need to work on. Loved it!! Had a wonderful sense of humor as well. I learned quite a bit while writing out comments for her for the quilt entries. I would recommend her for any quilt guild show that needs to be judged. Such a great lady.

I'll post some pictures lately of the show & my quilts that won~~

Getting Ready for Quilt show

Well I've been getting my quilts ready for our local quilt show. This will be my first one to enter, scared to death. LOL. Right now I'm putting prairie points on my block quilt that is done in spinning star with batiks & black, plus crystals. Boy am I going out of my box!! I'm a primitive folkart type of gal!!
I posted a small picture of it. Love the quilting in it. I've got two wallhangings, another quilt done up in turtles, and one done up in hearts & stars that has button hole stitched them down all by hand. Hope to have a couple of minitures done as well. There is a contest to see who can enter the most. I don't think I'll win but I'm going to try.
The prairie points are going to be a challenge, never done one before so this is all new to me. pressing all of those points I have a feeling is going to take hours. I have 2 weeks till show time. Hope to get them done & ready to go.
I've posted another picture of a mystery quilt I did this past weekend. It was lots of fun. Done in Kansas trouble fabric, which is my one of my loves. Turned out to be kinda americana but didn't mean for it to. Isn't it funny how a quilt takes a mind of it's own. Love to know what you think.
God Bless~~~~