One of those days.....

when plans didn't go like I thought they would. Kaiser the Wonder Beagle has not been well today. He is on an antibiotic for a skin infection and was experiencing some side effects. He nearly had a seizure and it scared me but good. Then he was so tired. No more meds for him and hopefully he will be better tomorrow. I was a hovering Doggie Mama today as I was so worried about him. He drives me crazy sometimes but I don't like to see him suffer and be sick.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I was at the doctor last week (I went in the morning, took the dog in the afternoon) and that was because I have an inner ear issue and was having some vertigo (had never had that before and that is most interesting - very wierd sensation, to say the least). I'm on an antibiotic, too, but thankfully no side effects. So, today did not go as planned. I really didn't get any sewing done, although, I did cut out a number of Christmas charm squares for my patient blogging friends. I was going to string lights along the porch railing and never got to that. I did finish my Agatha Christie mystery so at least I finished something! Tomorrow, I'll start fresh and perhaps Wednesday will go better. :-)
Sandi

A pillow for my sleepy head...........

I finished the "Bulb-a-licious" project! It's a design by Sandy Gervais that she has shared on the Christmas Blog Hop (you'll find all the details at Gudrun's blog - Gudrun'sWorld). To check out Sandy's blog just click here and you'll be there. I really liked the pattern she offered but almost right away, I knew I'd make it into a pillow instead of a table mat. I used woolfelt for all of the applique pieces and flannel for the border and corded binding. This will go nicely with a couple of other flannel Christmas pillows that I made a few years ago. I'll take a photo of all of them together when I get to that part of my decorating.

This project was fun and very easy to do. I stitched up the applique part while waiting at the doctor's office last week. I changed the design just a bit by adding the words NOEL to the ornament. Once I was home, I had to lay it aside but tonight, I added the border and binding, then the backing and a couple of buttons in the back for closure and it was done!! Next project I'm going to do are some of the little bags by Terry Atkinson so I can make up Christmas mugs for my grandson and niece. I found really cute mugs at Michael's so tomorrow, I'll see what fabrics I can find that will go best with the mugs.

All of the designer's are offering some really fun projects but even more enjoyable are the stories that are being shared. I can't keep up with reading all of them but hope to come back to them later in December when things settle down a bit. Thanks to all of the designer's for sharing so much fun.
Time now for a bit of a read before I go to bed. Got an Agatha Christie novel that is calling my name. :-)
Sandi

And another good Monday morning!

I hope it's a good Monday morning for you. I spent the weekend tidying up a couple bedrooms and my quilty stuff that I had taken to programs in the last two months. Do you ever drag out a lot of stuff and then never quite get it put back where it belongs? Well, everything is back where it belongs except a few things and that will get finished later today!! Feels so good to have the bedrooms all neat and tidy that I just walk in and it makes me smile. :-)

I also spent time this weekend sewing, talking to my mom on the phone, and getting out Christmas decorations. I am going to decorate early (did I already mention this?) because I'll be going to Iowa in early December and no time to decorate then.

So what was I sewing on? I had two projects......one was the project from Sandy Gervais in the Cross Country Christmas Blog Hop. It's almost finished and I'll share a photo of it on Tuesday. The other project was a leaf block for the new BOM that I have begun in my Wooly Buddies Group. Here it is..............if you would like to come along on this project, you will have to join my Wooly Buddies group. Just click the button on my sidebar for the link to Wooly Buddies. I will not be posting the patterns for this series on my blog although I will post my finished blocks here.

I also have another "wooly opportunity" that will begin in January. If you live in or near the Mankato, MN area, you can join me for "Wooly Wednesdays" at Firefly Quilt Shop in Mankato. Owner, Janice, is adding more wools and you'll soon find a whole new display of the goodies that you can enjoy. We'll meet from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. For more info, you can contact Firefly Quilt Shop at 507-344-0441. You can find them on the web at http://www.fireflyquiltshop.com/.

That's all for tonight/this morning. :-)

See you tomorrow!

Sandi

Lucky Day today! It's a Giveaway!

It's been a long time since I've had a giveaway and so I think it's high time I offered one up for my blogging friends. This will be my "400th + post and it's almost Christmas Giveaway!" I hadn't really been paying attention to what number I was up to, until the day before I went to Rosebud's*Cottage for a visit to the new shop location. Actually, I was headed in that direction because I was bringing several dozen cookies to my son and the guys at his work and it was only a few more miles over to Rosebud's. With the cookies delivered, I had lots of time to check out the fabrics and goodies, and then the wool. I had a purpose.........I was on the look-out for a couple of good green wool colors. There they were and now they're here. The more I looked around, the more I saw things I'd like. And then I saw these...........

Neat little notebooks that will make a great place to list your current projects. Then there were the fabrics from Sandy Gervais' Gobble Gobble line. I bought five fat quarters so I can make a tiny sampler quilt. Notice that there are two notebooks and two piles of fabric. One set is for me. The other set is for one of you out there in Blogland. Just leave me a comment on this post and you could be the lucky winner of a notebook and a set of Gobble Gobble Fat Eighths. :-)

There is only one rule for the comments..........this first prize is only for those who have previously visited my blog. Read on if this is the first time you have stopped by............

You've probably heard that saying "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold." Well, that applies to blogging friends. Some of you have only recently begun to read my blog, some of you have been reading since I first began and others are just finding me right now as you read this post. So, I have old and new friends and to celebrate that ............

I have two gifts ......... one for an "old friend" and one for a "new friend". Each of these gift bags is filled with three fat quarters of the brightest, cheeriest, star fabric that I have seen in a long time! There might also be something else in the bag but only the winner will get to see that! Just leave a comment on this post and tell me if you are an "old friend" or a "new friend". And yes, the "old friends" will be getting their name in the drawing twice for a chance at the notebooks or these fat quarters. It's kind of a seniority thing but you new bloggers will be "old blogging friends" when I do my next giveaway and that's going to be New Year's Day and a fine one that one will be!

Back to today, though, and one more gift bag. This little red one will be won by someone who has posted to my blog in the last 40 days so somebody is already a winner! Like several other bloggers, I like to reward those who read my ramblings on a fairly regular basis. In the bag you'll find one-half yard of that pretty red fabric and a full yard of the green with gold holly fabric. I figure that there's a tablerunner or something festive in this fabric for some lucky winner.

So when is the drawing date? It will be Tuesday morning November 24th. You may leave comments starting today and through midnight November 23rd. No special requirements for the comments. However.........you must have a link to your e-mail address or blog so that I may contact you if you win. No link, no win.

Happy Friday the 13th. Hope you all have a great day!!

Sandi

Another finished project......

I even surprised myself that I could finish this in two days! I have a spot for this and that is part of what inspired me to do this little wall quilt designed by Gudrun of GE Designs.

I had another reason to make the quilt and that was to practice using my walking foot. To be honest, I made a few mistakes along the way. The technique is easy but.......using flannel proved to be soft and fun but the flannel "moves" sort of like velvet does (for those of you who have sewn with velvet you know what I mean). When I finished stitching all the pieces for the tree, I realized that it was "skewed" on the batting and sort of leaned to the left. Now this wasn't a real problem as the batting is larger than needed. However, I used plaid on the back of the quilt and it definitely is "skewed" but the quilting looks nice and no one will see the back anyway!

When the quilt was finally finished this afternoon, all I had to do was add buttons. I have four boxes of "theme" buttons like the one in the picture, plus a basket full of my buttons from the 70's and 80's and then I have small drawer full of vintage buttons. Do you think I could find ten buttons that looked right on the quilt? Nope. Those vintage gold balls would have looked great but there was one missing!! I almost gave up and then decided "I am going to finish this now", so I mixed trees and gingerbread men. I'm not liking the trees, though, so will buy something that will replace them next time I'm out shopping.
So, would I do this again? Yes, however, I won't be able to do another one anytime soon. Unfortunately just as I was stitching the border pieces on, my walking foot got "tired" or something. It started "clunk, clunking" and I finally I had to remove it and put my regular foot back on the machine. Then I just pinned and sewed the final border very carefully. I really can't machine stitch that table runner, so I am thinking that I need to go back to the idea of hand-quilting the design I want on it. I do handwork so much better and find it is so much more relaxing. And that's what I have planned for the day on Thursday. I have a wooly project that is calling my name and I am looking forward to lots of hand-stitching!

Tomorrow is Friday, the 13th. For some that's an unlucky day but I have something fun to offer so be sure to stop by. :-)

Sandi

In honor of Veteran's Day.....

I present my "Soldier's Heart" block for my "Grace and a Prayer" Quilt................

I designed this block a couple of year's ago when I needed a block for a group quilt for a guy. I wanted a block that looked masculine and so I pulled this striped fabric because it reminded me of a man's shirt. I cut the base of the heart, then stitched the two top pieces in place. I appliqued the block to the background square and added a button as it would be at the neck of a shirt. At the time, I cut out a duplicate set of the pattern pieces and always planned to make up the block. I thought it would be perfect for Veteran's Day because it made me think of my dad's shirts. It's not done in patriotic colors but it will work in my quilt. Now I realize not all soldier's are guys. There are a lot of women who have served and given their lives in the Armed Forces. I just happened to be thinking of my dad and also of a high school friend who lost his life in Vietnam. You could make this heart feminine by adding lace or anything else that might suit the person you want to remember. The important thing is to REMEMBER those who have served their country.

If there is interest in the pattern, I can draw it up and post it tomorrow. Have a good day!

Sandi

Edit: A little change in plans ....... if you would like the pdf for this block pattern, please send me an e-mail with "Soldier's Heart" in the subject line (click on "about me" to get to my e-mail).

My tree is up!

Ha! Ha! Fooled ya! Bet you thought I meant I had my Christmas tree up and decorated. Well, not quite but I do have the tree section done for Gudrun's quilt (go here for the pattern) that she has posted on her blog. Gudrun spoke at our quilt group in Prior Lake so I've seen her great fabrics and quilts and her "quilt-as-you-go-projects". I thought I'd give this one a try and it's fun and easy to do.

At first, I was going to use cotton Christmas fabrics and then when I got into my Christmas stash I found my flannels and that is what I am using for the quilt. I wanted the tree all in the same plaid and think I will add red heart buttons to it for decoration. There's another border to add and then the prairie points. I've never done them before so this was a chance to try that technique, too. I had never used the can of quilt basting spray that was in my cupboard so I had a first-time try with that and love the product! I am enjoying some time to work on projects and it is so fun and relaxing.
I'm continuing to make plans to have my mother visit us for Thanksgiving. I can tell you now that she will be going for surgery for kidney stones (two stones that are too large to pass must be removed). Didn't want to say anything last week as she hadn't told her friends and some of them read my blog. Her surgery is not scheduled until Dec. 1st. In the meantime, she is doing well and, I think in about a week, my brother will bring her as far as Algona and we'll all meet there for lunch and then she'll come home with me. I think we will have some good quilty fun and I do plan to get my real tree up before Thanksgiving this year. I can do the work while she rests and we can share memories of Christmas past. Praying that the weather will hold off and any snowstorms will come after December 1st!!
All for now. See you tomorrow with a "heart-felt" block for Veteran's Day. ;-)
Sandi