Remember that I mentioned kitchen curtains.......

Well, here they are. Finished. Done. Have been for about four weeks but I just never got the photo posted. This is the valance over my kitchen window..........

and to the right of that window is the breakfast table area. I had the plaid fabric in my stash and just loved it. Found the green linen like fabric at Hancock Fabrics and it was perfect with the plaid.

I also mentioned I was making curtains for the basement TV room. Finished those a couple weeks ago. My husband loves NASCAR and these were the scraps from the NASCAR quilt that I made for him. He really likes the curtains. :-)

He wanted tie-backs for the curtains so I suggested bungi cords. At first, he didn't think that was so cool. Then he decided maybe it was okay after all. :-)

I took some time to make a block for a comfort quilt that Victoria pulled together over on her blog. The color pallette was so pretty. You can see the finished quilt here .

When I went to the post office to mail the quilt block, I snapped this photo of our local City Hall. Love that big beautiful tree...........

The colors have been quite pretty in spite of our dry conditions here in Minnesota. I snapped these deer as they wander through the yard last weekend.........

Took this photo another day....looked like the backyard was fairly glowing as the sun hit the trees! I love, love, love Autumn!

And since I am in Iowa...........I took along a project to do......

I pinned the banner to some batting, quickly did a little quilting around the edge and brought it along to embellish with some threads and glitter paint. Going to hang it on my porch on Halloween. Only a couple weeks til the big Spooky Night!
Will be home soon.........
Sandi

The Big Retirement is here!

 

My husband Steve talked about retiring for many years. It finally happened on Sept. 27th. He began his career at Sperry Univac and over the years it transitioned to more than one company and a few name changes. These last years it was Lockheed Martin. He enjoyed his work and all the travel a lot but is glad to be retired. Here is on his last day waving to me as he leaves the building............

 

And then it was party time. In addition to his retirement, other co-workers were transitioning due to lay-offs/job changes so everyone gathered at Moose Country. These two young guys were co-workers of Steve's and told me he was a really good mentor. That's Jeff on the left and Jeremy. Nearby was Jason. All young guys ready to fill the shoes of the old guys. :-)

 And yes, at Moose Country Bar and Grill, there is a Moose..............

So after the Happy Hour gathering, we were hungry so we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Khan's Mongolian Barbecue. We had a waiter who was very friendly and funny, too. He thought Steve had a romantic accent when he talked. LOL! So we got him to take a picture. And then we went back to eating because the stir-fry was sooooooooo good!

 

So that was the official retirement day, but two weeks prior to that was also a big day. It was the day that our 1972 Javelin was hauled out of storage and over to our house so Steve will have a project now that he's retired. It was late when the tow truck finally eased the car onto the driveway........

The next day, Steve had to wash it. Wise move since the thing has been sitting in storage for a good twenty years.

 Hmmm.......looks pretty good here.........

We had to have a party to celebrate the retirement and the arrival of the Javelin. So I cooked up a bunch of food and we invited the neighbors and our kids.

And all the hot weather we had totally disappeared and it was so cold you had to wear a coat. That's daughter, Collette and husband Daryl at the table, and friend Jeanne and Sarah on the left.

Too cold outside so we all stayed inside..............

and then we all trooped to the shop to check out the car. That's when son Devlin took a look under the car to check the condition of the frame.......... 

 It's gonna be a lot of work............

but it will keep my husband busy so that I can enjoy playing with my fabric. Happy for him that he retired. Interestingly, most women don't really retire because the cooking still keep happening. LOL!  So all the hoopla of retiring is over now and we can get down to the business of enjoying life. Steve enjoyed his first week of retirement and I finished three projects this past week. He's happy, I'm happy. Can't beat that!

More "catch up" photos in the next couple of days............

Sandi

Change in my schedule......

I'm going to have to make a change in my schedule. I am headed to Iowa to visit my mom. Leaving my husband and the dog to hold down the fort while I'm gone. Lots to do before I leave and I have to make a change to when I will post the Tabletopper Tutorial. I have loaded the photos and typed my instructions but I don't have time to proof my text. I don't want to post the tutorial until I have double-checked the measurements for the project. And so..........the tutorial will have to wait until this weekend. I will return on Friday evening and will have time on Saturday to proof my text and post the tutorial. While I am away, I have a couple of pre-scheduled posts to share and I am going to move up the little surprise I was going to post on Friday and share it right now...............
If you are a faithful reader of my blog, I have another GIVEAWAY for you............
That's right........... more fabric from Jacquelynne ............
And it's all of these fabrics from her "Fruitful Hands" fabric line, enough to make the tabletopper that I shared "on the line" this past Monday...........

And instructions will be in the tutorial I'll post this weekend. Hope you don't mind the delay. Just leave your name and e-mail link. However, I cannot stress enough that you must leave your name and e-mail link. I had several entries on the last giveaway with no way to contact them if they had won. I'll have my random number man draw a winning name on Friday evening and will announce the winner when I post the tutorial on Saturday.
Back soon......
Sandi

Note...........I do not mean to offend anyone by asking for your e-mail address. Most bloggers enter their e-mail in the settings feature so that they can connect with other bloggers. If you are a blogger and have not activated that feature or you do not blog, that is why I must ask for your e-mail address. It is your choice to enter the giveaways that I offer. If you do not leave your e-mail, though, I cannot send you an e-mail if you win. A fellow blogger offered this suggestion.........write out your e-mail address in this way and it makes it more difficult for someone to spam your e-mail address........
example....... sandi (at) gmail (dot) com
Remember that there are always folks who send junk mail to your real street address and there will be those who will send junk mail to your e-mail address. That's something one just can't get away from!

What's on the line?

The finished tabletopper is on the line!! Jacquelynne's "Fruitful Hands" fabric line (go here to learn more about Jacquelynne's fabrics) was so colorful and cheerful. I was "pearsitively" taken by it's deliciousness!

 

And speaking of "taken"...........the little quilt was almost taken away by the wind!  It was very windy on Thursday and Friday, blew my fall porch decorations all over the place. Saturday was chilly but not too windy. It didn't seem windy when I went to church yesterday morning but after lunch, and just when I wanted to take pictures.......it seemed the wind came up again. I was not sure I would get a photo of the quilt to share today, but then a bit of calm.........and I snapped the photo above.  I had taken a couple other quilts out to photograph but the wind was too brisk so I gave up and will try another day. The tutorial for this little topper will be posted on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. It's a quick and easy project!

So, I loaded pictures for a post about the retirement party for my husband and a few other things that have been going on around here. Ummmm, I realized I am really behind in getting stuff posted. Life just got really busy. So anywhoooo.......the photos are loaded but I need to write descriptions and that will come later. Since I'm already behind, what does it matter if it's another day or so before I get them posted?  Let's call that post......"Coming Soon!"

You all have a great Monday!
Sandi

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!!!

Soooooo many of you entered the drawing for Jacquelynne's lovely fabric panels, that I decided to draw two names and give away both panels to two lucky winners!  And the lucky winners are.......

the green panel and fat quarters (on the right) for Nadine at

SewingNana blog

 

and the pink panel and fat quarters (on the left) for Linda at

Living*the*Dream blog.

 

 

And while so many of you were adding your names for a chance to win those lovely panels, here is what I chose for a tabletopper..............

 

I looked at those pears and first thing I thought was.........fussy cut them!!! And so I did..........

If you stop by on Monday, you will see the finished tabletopper featured "on the line"!  I amazed myself that I got it cut out and totally finished in three days! And I was even binding another quilt during that time. It's the crisp fall air that gives me energy! I do love fall! However.............it might be a little too crisp! Temps in the 40's are little below normal and even my husband decided it was too cool in the house and he turned the heat on! 
Anyway.......back to business.........after you check out the finished tabletopper on Monday, then on Tuesday and Wednesday, I will be posting a photo tutorial so you can make one, too.  And then something is going to happen with these fabrics at the end of next week.........

 

The "Fruitful Hands" line by Jacquelynne is just plain yummy, wouldn't you agree?

Many thanks to her for sharing her fabrics. :-)

 

I am "out and about" today. Headed over to the little town of Cosmos, MN to present my "Legacy of Stitches" quilt program to the ladies at Peace Lutheran Church. My husband has loaded my quilts and other goodies in the car and there will be helpers when I arrive. I have lots of fun stuff to share and inspire. And then maybe on Sunday afternoon, I will finally sit down and share pics from my husband's retirement and some other things. Have a good weekend!
Sandi

Remember the Traveling Stash Box........

Well, it arrived over at Julianne's blog. Here is what I put in the box ...........

And if you visit Julianne's blog.......... Quilting*with*Calicos .... then you can see what she chose to keep and also leave a comment for a chance to have the Traveling Stash Box visit your blog!
I am busy as a bee today preparing for a quilt program on Saturday. Neighbor Sue will be here to help me pack my quilts. Also working on the tutorial for a quilty project with Jacquelynne's fabrics.  Back to work.........
Sandi

What's on the line? A Giveaway!

 Good Monday Morning on this first day in October!  The weather here in Minnesota has been sunny and mild. Fall colors are really beginning to come alive!  Yesterday was a lovely, warm day so I headed out to my clothesline with some goodies from Jacquelynne at The*Noble*Wife. She sent me some yardage from her newest fabric line...........some for me and some for a lucky reader! You can see the line....... "Fruitful Hands" .....by clicking here. And now.........if you would like to win this panel from the line................

or perhaps this panel from the line.......

and some more fabrics to go with the panel ...........

 

well, here is what you need to do..........

 

One lucky winner will get to choose either the pink or green "Fruitful Hands".

Then, depending on which panel you choose, I'll add some some fat quarters in the fabrics in the photo above. I'm going to make a project with the panel that you don't choose and also will be making a tabletopper from the yardage in this line. I mentioned in this post that I would be doing a tutorial and this is the fabric I'll be using. I'll also be using some of Jacquelynne's "O Holy Night" line. Stay tuned because there'll be a giveaway for that coming up soon, too! Right now, just leave your name, an e-mail link and tell me which panel, green or pink, that you would choose if you are the winner of the drawing. You have until Friday, October 5th at 6:00 p.m. to enter. At that time, my random number man will draw the winning name. He's retired now, so he'll be looking for something to do. And may I just say, that it has been a busy time getting him retired. LOL! I'll get some photos posted soon...........I know I keep saying that, but really I will. :-)

Have a great Monday!!
Sandi

This giveaway closes at 6:00 p.m. The winner will be announced at noon Saturday, Oct. 6th!