crazy'boutquilts

Are you doing anything special?  :-) 

Sorry I've been absent. Ugh I caught the creepy crud! It kept me couch-bound for half of last week! I was so bummed. No sewing. No computer time. Just sleeping and feeling puny.  :-( But last week is definitely better than this week! I have places to go! A birthday to celebrate! A graduation to celebrate! Goodies to make and packages to wrap! Do I sound crazy yet? *giggle*

December marked the end of the BOM I have been doing with the HGTV quilters. This was our December block~


And this is my top all together. :-)

 Well, blogger decided it looked better on its side. :-/ Sorry.  I think if you click on it, it will enlarge a bit.
 It is all done in my CW fabrics~ found lots of little bits that I could use up in this one. :-)  I drew out the pattern in EQ7. Then every month presented the 12 inch block and the smaller ones that went around it. My friend and fellow HGTV member, Karen, helped me post when I wasn't around and kept me sane most of the year~ thanks Karen!  It was a lot of fun~ and the HGTV ladies kept me on my toes too! LOL  It would have gone smoother if my computer hadn't decided to die in the spring and me not having saved my files! :-o But, I think it ended up even better after having to re-draw everything a second time. :-)

I already have a plan for a new BOM next year, and it will involve planning by the  HGTV ladies who join me. :-)  They all showed such talent this year in changing blocks to accommodate their fabrics, fabric choices etc that I am looking forward to being wowed next year! Of course, the year is going to be a mystery as everyone is choosing one design element and keeping it secret all year. LOL Next December will be the big reveal. :-)

I hope you are finding the time to get your Christmas shopping, sewing, baking etc finished~ and staying healthy!
Until next time~
Happy stitching!

I have so enjoyed following along with Darlene and Cheryl on their Christmas Through the Year train every month. :-) and I actually have some gifts made! LOL



This month I made 4 mini ten minute table toppers. This size works perfect for a small book shelf, end table, or if you decorate your bathroom, they fit there too! ;-)  You can see what others have made by checking the links on Darlene's blog.



Thanks Darlene and Cheryl for keeping us stitching every month!

Until next time~
Happy Quilting!

When you hear that phrase, what do you think of? Little bites of food? Time? How about fabric? :-)
This month for the Another Year of Schnibbles project Sinta and Sherri chose a 'Little Bites' pattern from Miss Rosies Quilt Co called 'Drop'.  Little Bites are made using the 2.5 inch 'candy' squares.  They are like really little charm packs. LOL

There are three variations on the pattern and I chose the one with the most teeny pieces! I must be crazy!!  LOL Well, you already know that about me. ;-)  I cannot remember which candy packs I used. :-o Maybe something with 'chocolat' in it, because I'm drawn to that... both by the colors and the treat! :-)  LOL

I used my biggest design board to keep myself organized...




You can find the tutorial for these at Lori Holt's blog~ Bee in My Bonnet~ under her tutorials tab. I made some big ones at 20 inches square and it worked out perfectly for this project. :-) I love it when things work out!

So here is my Bite of a Drop. :-)  I put the ruler beside it so you can see how small it is... the sashings and corner stones finish at ½ inch. :-o  The whole thing will be 20 inches square. Yup, its true, I am certifiable! ~ and loving it!!! :-)



You can see a whole parade of these Little Bites on Sinta and Sherri's blogs on the first of December. Enjoy!

Until next time~
Happy Quilting!

Its Thimbleberries Sew Day!  I have been really bad at keeping up with the sew days this year~ sorry!  I have decided that while I love Thimbleberries, I cannot host the Sew Days next year. Would anyone like to take over?

While I am sewing today~ more like playing catch-up :-o I won't be sewing with my favorite Thimbleberries fabrics.  Are you sewing today? Thimbleberries?  Please let me know and I will stop by and visit!

Have a happy day!  :-)

Hello, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and are busy enjoying the weekend.  We had DS home for Thanksgiving and had a lot of fun. Our 'nest' gets a little smaller every year. :-)

Sorry I have been missing~ I finished a nice big quilt top. BUT I can't show you until December! Its my HGTV BOM.  I am really happy with how it came together.

I also finished my string swap blocks, but silly me.. I forgot to take a photo when I was swapping everyone's! Sorry. There were some great color combo's. In this swap (hosted on HGTV quilter's message board) everyone gets to choose the color of strings they'd like in their blocks, and the center string size. Then I make a master list and everyone makes four blocks for each participant. The blocks measure 8.5 inches, unfinished. They all sent them to me and I swapped them out and mailed them back yesterday.  This time we had 11 participants, including me, so here are the 10 sets I received, plus a few extra. They aren't laid out the way I would sew them together because I have each person's blocks together~ and I want to mix them up! ;-)  I'm trying to decide if I should make more, cut these and add a color to one side, or what.  I am going to put them up and do some thinking for a while...like until after the holidays. ;-)



That's all for now! Have a happy, quilty, weekend!!

...*giggle* ... me!  :-) I used to kind of dread birthdays. You know another year older, another gray hair! But hey, they happen every year whether we like it or not, so I might as well enjoy it! LOL :-)

This year I joined a few birthday swaps.. and wow! They did not disappoint! I am just thrilled with my birthday  'loot'! LOL ;-)

First I joined in a FQ swap. About 20 of us sent a FQ to each other on our birthday's.  We got to choose what theme we'd like for the FQ's and I chose Civil War. Granted, not everyone can find CW FQ's in their area, but I think the ladies did an awesome job!

I can't wait to play with these! :-)

Second I joined a secret sister birthday swap on HGTV. We were each given the name of someone else who joined and we sent them a b-day box. My secret sister's birthday was early in the year. I made her a sewing machine cover and sent a bunch of other goodies. I received this lovely box from another HGTV quilter.  I love everything she sent!



And then the icing on the top was this wonderful wall hanging she made and hand quilted! It is one of the blocks we presented in the BOM for the year!  I just love autumn and this was such a fun surprise!


And finally, another group of my friends is sending each other a block on their birthday. Our one rule was it did not have to arrive on time. LOL  I chose a block from Quilter's Cache called Four Squares 2 and they are making blocks for me in autumn fabrics~ won't these make a lovely lap quilt? :-)


Its been a wonderful birthday! Hubby bought me a few books and took me out for lunch. DD called. One of my besties called. :-) I am so very blessed!

I hope you are having a wonderful day too!
Next time I will show you what I've been sewing on. ;-)
Until then~
Happy Quilting!!

I finished all of my string swap blocks yesterday, so was looking for a little fun~ luckily i had just the project! :-)

Sue @ Larkspur Lane Designs  had a little word puzzle contest on her blog. I love word puzzles, so just had to play along. LOL  She shared her Jingle Bell pattern for getting it right.  Thank you Sue!!



 It's a paper-pieced pattern and I think it turned out really cute!  I can imagine a row of them on a table runner, or along the side of placemats. What would you do?  Any ideas for me? :-)

I am headed back to my sewing machine~ much to do. I hope you have a great weekend!
And until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!

...for a sweet someone? :-) 

Kim at Lily Patch Quilts has a new pattern called 'Sweet Little Pleats' and I am in love!  :-) It's easy. It's quick. And it would make a darling gift!  Need a small tote bag for your book when you are waiting at the Dr.'s or even a little project? Have a little girl in your life who needs a little bag? :-)  Look at this~~


Isn't it just darling?! I was on a black and red kick when I made mine and I love it!  It has a snap closure and some inside pockets too! And just think how cute it would be in polka dots!  Take a look at Kim's blog for other fabric choices and ideas. :-)  Fun! Fun! Fun! :-)

Until next time~
Happy Stitching!

LOL, sorry I just couldn't come up with a snappy title! :-)  I know you are all wondering who the winner of my giveaway is, so I'll tell you first. But I hope you do read on when you find out it wasn't you! :-/ I wish I could give things away to every one of you who took the time to comment and suffer through the word verification!  BTW, did you know that you don't have to capitalize the letters for them to work? At least that is the way it works for me~ as long as I list the right letters, it works. ;-)  Thank you all so much for your visits!

Ok, the random number generator thing picked~~

Clara! from Clover and Violet  :-) Congratulations!!!  I hope you enjoy my little bag and the tape measure. I gotta say, I feel a little funny sending something I made to a pattern designer! :-o  But on the other hand~ do you make things for yourself? I usually make for everyone but me, so hopefully you will find a use for my little bag. :-)

Now for 'stuff'~ :-)

I have been sewing!  I am in a string block swap where everyone chooses what colors they would like their blocks to be. We had a lot of interest in 'ocean colored' batiks, so I have this pile to trim up. I enjoy sewing string blocks, and making string quilts~ they always surprise me because the fabrics available to me are so different to some of the other swappers fabrics. Do you find that different areas of the country seem to have different selections? When I was in Missouri, I didn't see a single fabric that I have locally~ weird, huh?






I love to sit and stitch in the evenings. And with it getting darker so much sooner, the evening seems longer!  I just finished Santa. I need to rinse out the Sticky Solvy and get borders on him. And then I am thinking about aging him a bit~ have you done that? Any tips for me?  ;-)





I guess that is all the 'stuff' for now. :-)  I hope you are keeping warm and safe. I feel so bad for those on the east coast who are suffering so! I sincerely hope the weather changes directions for them and they don't get another storm!

Until next time~
Happy Stitchin'!

It's the end of the month already! Is anyone else wondering~ How did that happen?! ;-)

For Another Year of Schnibbles we had the choice of making Hubble or Bounce from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. Of course, we were told in September so everyone would have plenty of time since these are bigger quilts.  Well........ :-/   I was gone in September and when I got home in October I needed a little rest.  And the next thing I knew, the month was half over and I hadn't even started! :-o Yikes!  So with the pedal to the metal, I got busy!  I made Bounce~

Bounce by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co done in 'Its a Hoot' by Momo for Moda

 Oh my stars! I love stars!! :-) It looks a little washed out in my photo~ sorry. :-/
Tomorrow Sherri and Sinta will have the parade. I don't think you will want to miss it! ;-)

I've also been stitching by night~ but not on my machine. For Christmas Through the Year, I've been making scarves.  This one will be for DD. Shhh! 

I also made myself a few. ;-) They are fast and easy. :-)

If you are still with me, you are a very loyal follower! Thank you!! This is my 700th post!  So in honor of my being such a chatterbox LOL   ;-)  Ok, really, in honor of you being such a wonderful blog friend! I am having a little giveaway...


 Leave me a comment if you'd like to win this little zipper pouch and 120 inch tape measure. I recently got one of these tape measures for myself and had no idea what I have been missing all these years! It is wonderful!  You don't have to be a follower to enter, but if you are :-) leave me a second comment telling me you are and you will get a second chance!  I will draw next week. Make sure your email is hooked to your comment so I can contact you!  Good luck!

Have a wonderful weekend~
and a very Happy Halloween! (did you think I forgot?) LOL ;-)

It isn't as finished as I hoped it would be by today, but i thought you'd like to see it anyway. :-)

This is a Sherri K Falls pattern called Berries and Boughs.  It should be a really quick little quilt. ;-) But I had to be different. LOL I did the twilling stitch around the cardinal. I saw this stitch a lot when I was in Kansas and Missouri and just had to play. :-)  I really like how it turned out.






 This is a little closer look at the stitch~

Hopefully, if you click on the photo's they will enlarge a bit more.

Hope you are finding a little stitchin' time too!
Until next time!
Stitch Happy. :-)

Do you do this?  :-) 

Instead of sewing on the things I must get finished because I have deadlines, I found myself playing with the 60º angle on my big ruler. :-)  Why? No idea! :-) But I do find that sometimes it is fun to do a quick and easy project in between the bigger ones to kind of recharge myself.  I'm sure you've seen these table runners every where. I have too! So I thought it was about time I played! LOL


I love how it turned out!  I can see more of these in my future! I'm no longer intimidated when I see a striped fabric I like! I now have a few different ideas for them. ;-)

I'm so sorry, but I was spammed over the weekend~ with some uglies. So word verification is back on. I know many of you don't like it, please bear with me and maybe I can un-do it in a few weeks.

And finally~ just two more posts until I hit 700!! Wow! I had no idea I talked so much! :-o You can bet, there is going to be a little party. :-)  Stay tuned!

Until next time~
Happy stitching!

I love to sit and stitch in the evening when DH is watching TV.  While I was on my trip, we visited a quilt show in Springfield, MO.  The show was lovely and I came home with many ideas ;-), but the vendors? Oh my!!  I have never seen so many vendors at a quilt show, and apparently many others hadn't either because the vendor area was busy! LOL  It was almost like a craft fair in the vendor 'mall'.  Of course, I found lots of wonderful things! :-)

One of my favorite discoveries was these little woolie kits at Sew Graceful Quilting's booth.  The pattern is Little Bits by Joan, #308 Punkin Seeds.  It was so easy to stitch up because the wool was in the kit, and I have limited wool sources here. I gotta tell you~ I am in love with Joan's patterns!!  :-)

I have a few more I am going to work on so I can change them out in the frame for the different season's. :-)
(I think if you click on the photo, it will enlarge a bit.)

Then I happened upon a booth with Sherri K. Falls patterns  Loved them! This one is called Autumn Blessing.  I stitched it in perle cotton 5 and really like the thicker stitching.

I am working on another one of her patterns and hopefully will be able to show you that one soon.

Until then,
Happy stitchin'!

I think I have recovered from retreat. LOL I am back to sewing and I have to tell you about the great bag I tested for Kim at Lily Patch Quilts.   Kim just designed The Varsity Bag~


I know my DD is going to flip when she sees this bag! LOL  It is large enough for a laptop, or your quilting supplies! :-)  It has the zippered outer pocket (above) and the top zips closed.  It features both a long strap and short handles. I sure wish I had this one when I was flying home from retreat! I could've done more shopping! LOL ;-)

The other side~

...has a large durable pocket.  And inside there are more pockets that are strategically sewn so you have a place for your pencils and other small things so that they don't end up in the bottom of the bag. I love it! :-)

Kim has entered the bag in a contest at Lemon Squeezy Home. Would you help me give her some votes? Go to A Lemon Squeezy Home and  vote on the sidebar for The Varsity Bag by Lily Patch Quilts.  There are a lot of nice bags to look at, but I truly feel this bag involved the most work.  I hope you agree too. ;-)  Thank you!!

In other sewing news, I am working on my Schnibble for this month~ I think I started a little late! :-o  And I've finished 2 stitcheries I will show you next time~

Thanks for stopping by~
Happy Quilting!!

As I was unpacking from the retreat, I took some photo's for you. :-)
When everyone registered, they were given a retreat bag, a bag of batting samples and their T-shirt if they ordered one. Since I was on the committee, I just put my bag aside and didn't really look in it until after the retreat. :-o  Oh my goodness!  The Warm and Natural company donated all the bags of batting and it was a big hit with the ladies. The pieces are big enough for small wall hangings and I've already heard that a couple of the ladies have used some of them.  :-)

The flower pinned to the bag was made by one of our committee members, the talented Shauna.:-)  The journal covers were made by various HGTV message board members and inside there was a little note that said who made your cover. Very fun!  Thanks Malou! I love my red/white cover!  The key ring, little card wallet, dish cloth and other goodies were also made and donated by board members. Everyone received a donated book and pattern too.  As well as the little F8th of fabric and the measuring tool. Lots of goodies!

The bag had our board name and the Missouri bird and flower embroidered on them. What a great memento. There was a also a pillow square with the state outline printed on it for collecting signatures. I'm not sure why mine didn't make it into the photo. LOL 






We had class time every day during the retreat. I took a Swedish weaving class~ and loved it! I should have taken a photo of the back of my placemat too because none of the stitches show on the back! It is really cool. I want to make another one as soon as I collect the supplies. It was done on 11 count Aida cloth.




While we were visiting a local quilt shop, I saw a display of Swedish weaving books and picked one up. This will be a perfect new hobby when watching TV at night. Of course, I discovered a few other 'perfect new hobbies' too. ;-)  I'll tell you about those in my next post.

Until next time~

Have a great week and happy stitching!!

Anyone out there?  :-o

I know it has been almost a month! And I just got home the night before last! But I had a blast!!  I was at the Circle of Friends retreat in Branson, MO. We had 66 retreater's and a very fun weekend.  Its going to take me a long time to recover! LOL

Remember all the secret sewing I have been doing all year?  We were working on row robin quilts. Back in April we started making our center rows and passing them around. I did 2 lap quilt rows and one wall hanging. So every month to 6 weeks, I had three to work on~ and I had to keep them secret so the owner's would be surprised at retreat. I was blown away by all the creativity on all the quilts!  I'll show you mine today~ and if you'd like to see more go to this blog and scroll down a bit. :-)  I think I have photo's of all of them too. :-)

This was my wall hanging. I did the center black cat row and plan to add some crystals for their eyes after I have it finished. The person who made the row with the eyes told me they glow in the dark! Too fun! :-)

Mine is in the center ;-)

 I love the wintery one to the right of mine! And the one to the left is going in the owner's fishing cottage on a lake. Very cool!

This is one of my lap size quilts. I made the Christmas trees and gifts in the center row~

Blogger won't let me put a space between the photo's today, so the bottom shot is of my second lap quilt. I  made the house row and asked everyone to keep it to an autumn theme.  I love them both! **you can click on the photo's to make them larger** ;-)

Mine is on the left, my friend's with a chicken theme is on the right.

Love the autumn rows!

I have much to do yet, unpacking and organizing. But I'll be back with more photo's soon!!

Have a happy Friday!!

For Fun!! :-)

I have been looking forward to the next few weeks for over a year. :-) I am taking a blog time out and going to a retreat! And while I'm halfway across the country, I am going to be visiting friends, quilt shops, a quilt show, more friends, more shops..... LOL You get the idea!  :-) So much of what I haven't been able to show you this past year has hinged on this retreat and when I get back~ I'll have photo's!! :-) The row robins I've worked on, the challenge, the secret stuff... just wait, it will be worth it!! :-)

In the mean time~ and to help myself settle down a bit.. :-D  I did a little sewing yesterday~ Just a Little Bite. ;-) ;-)  The September Schnibble is a new pattern by Carrie of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co called 'Speck'. The new patterns use little squares.... just "little bites of fabric"  ... :-)  Since the pattern has both the 'x' and the 'o' variations~ I combined them into one little table topper with a few leftover charm squares. :-)



It is the perfect size for one of our end tables.  Originally, I was thinking about a pillow... but the end table needs a topper. LOL I just need to quilt it~ which probably won't happen until after I get back. Just sayin'. ;-)

I'm off to pack and check my lists!!!
Happy Quilting!

I'm just having a hard time keeping up! :-)

So much of what I am doing now, I can't show you, that I forgot what I can!! :-o

This is September's block for the HGTV BOM I'm doing with my friend Karen.

It is the end of the month already! And that means show and tell for Christmas Through the Year. In my case, it is just going to be 'tell'. ;-) Too many of my friends and family know I blog now, so I don't want to spoil any surprises. So..........

 I made 4 gifties this month and they involved this~~



I had to go out today and buy these new rolls. :-) And that is all I am going to say! LOL   Darlene at Quilting Daze  has linked everyone's Christmas Through the Year projects, so go on and visit her. You might just be inspired to get cracking on some of your Christmas gifts too! ;-)

For a very important date!! :-)  Alice in Wonderland

...or time flies! :-)  No, I'm not flying anywhere... yet. But the hands on the ol' clock sure seem to be flying around it!

 I can finally show you one of my  kinda secret projects. I made it for a birthday and now I know it has been received. :-)



This is kati cupcake's sewing machine cover. I made the medium size. It has pockets on the front and I liked it so much I actually used it on my machine for a few days! :-o (don't tell my friend!)  I was very tempted not to mail it off, but I did.  ;-) Now I need to make one for my machine~ it looks so lonely now without a cover! LOL

I've been working on the Fusion Blanket Crochet Along in the evenings. I said I wasn't going to start it until this fall... but.... :-/    First I cut out some vintage sheet squares.  Then I cut some flannel squares to put between the sheets because I thought they were rather thin feeling.  sigh Then  I thought... maybe I should crochet around one to see how it works. Then I did another, and another.... oh! I am weak!! :-o

After I had a few crocheted around, I thought.... I wonder how they will look together.....






I really couldn't help myself!!! :-o  Now I really have set it aside~ until I can get more squares prepped! :-) LOL  This is the most addictive little project!

I hope you've been still following the Bowls with Borders Blog hop. Today is day 11~ and there are more cute bowls out there!

For all your lovely comments on my Bowls with Borders wall hanging!  I was blown away! I have never had so many comments on one post in my life!  :-)

Sorry I wasn't here yesterday to post the days participants~ it was one of 'those' days. You know the ones, where you are busy from the minute you get up until you hit the pillow late at night and right before you fall asleep you wonder, 'what did I do today?'  Ok, maybe that doesn't happen to you. ;-) LOL

Here is yesterdays schedule, along with the schedule for the rest of the hop. If you find yourself with a little computer time~ go, and be inspired!!

                                                                         August 17th
                                                                     Madame Samm


Many, many thanks to Carol and Madame Samm and Regina Grewe for all the fun! 

If you don't see me for a few days, don't worry~ I am going to tie myself to my sewing chair so I can get caught up! LOL

Have a happy weekend! 

                                                                      I Piece 2-Mary
                                                                Sew Inspiring Crafts and More


Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great day!!

Since I am kinda slow about posting the Bowl Hop today, I am going to give you today's and tomorrow's hoppers~ 

                                                      August 14th
 
                                                                          Daisy Days
                                                                       A Quilting Sheep

Be sure to visit for lots of fun and inspiration! :-)

My day is Thursday the 16th~ and I've got my cutie finished! I hope you like it as much as I do! :-)

I've also been sewing on a few other things, and I plan to show you Friday. :-)

Have a great day!!

Today starts a 'bowl'-ful of fun!  Its the Bowls With Borders blog hop!  Carol is our wonderful coordinator, stop by and see her wonderful bowls!  And then visit everyone on today's hop~

Jody Walker

Cathy

Frances
Anneke

Majorie's Busy Corner

A Passion For Applique

Fabric-ating

Sophie
The House On The Side Of The Hill
Just Let Me Quilt