And The Winner Is.......

First of all, I want to thank each and everyone of you for the name suggestions for my new machine. Each suggestion got me to thinking...A few of you suggested 'Lucky'...I feel extremely lucky to have this machine. One comment was that my new machine was 'Lucky' to be coming home with me...Thanks T;) 'Happy' was another suggestion...happy only begins to express once again, that she is mine. 'Lady J'...I liked this one a lot, but my first golden retriever's name was Lady...a wonderful dog...and I will reserve that name for her. A name with lots of J's in it...hummmm.....again the wheels were cranking...Jackie suggested 'Sunshine'. Jackie's analogy with the rain and the sunshine got me to thinking and although I didn't choose this name it was the one that spurred me on to the one that I did choose..........

Her new name will be..........

SUNNY

Do you all like it and think that it fits?

I hope so.

So in the winners circle will be....

Each and Everyone

of you for helping me choose;)

Please email me. Jackie; Dawn; Emi; Nanette; Rock Granny, sorry, I don't know your name; Jantine (I probably have yours, but please email me just in case); Karen, hey, what a great name;) (Sew Many Ways), Blogless Me, sorry, I don't know your name either; Stina, and Teri (P & P)with your snail mail addresses so I can get your goodies off to you. Please put the name 'Sunny' in the subject line of your email;)

I will be off to the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California this week so goodies will be going out as soon as I get back...I just might find a little something special there to add to each of your packages.

Again, thanks so very much for holding my hand through this adventure........

And now......

Let the sewing begin;)

I'm Sooooooo Excited

I'm so excited...that I just can't hide it...I'm about to loose control...and I think I like it...come on ladies, sing along with me.........well, at least let me explain...

My kids were all in California last week attending a family reunion. Before they left, my youngest asked if I would water their yard while they were gone...well, of course I would.

We, my youngest and I, are just starting a mystery BOM at American Quilting. The first class was held this past Saturday and since I have to go by the quilt shop to get to her house, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, or maybe more than two;)

I also decided that I would get ready for work at her house and just leave from there instead of going back home.

About the time I hopped on my bike to head to the quilt shop and then on to her house, it started to sprinkle a little...and I'm thinking...this isn't bad, in fact it might just cool me off...it's been quite hot here lately.

When I was about a quarter of the way there, the sprinkle was more like a down pour. I decided to duck into A-1 Sewing Machine Shop to look around and let this cloud burst pass.

As I got off my bike, I noticed that there was a 50% OFF sign in the window...

Huuuuuuummmmmmmmmm...

I wondered.....what could be 50% off in this store???

I should interject here that I've had my eye on a certain sewing machine for several months, but it's way out of my price range.

Anyway, I walked in and right away saw the sales lady that I had talked to several times before when I had gone in to drool over said machine...

I asked, "what's 50% off?" and her reply was...

"everything"

I think I was in shock, because I pointed to 'my' machine and asked,

"is that machine on sale?" and she said yes.

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!

I asked if I could put it on lay-away and she said 'yes'

DOUBLE YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY COW!!!

COULD IT BE!!!

Would I be able to finally bring 'my' machine home???

Well, I filled out the paperwork and gave my money to the sales lady

...and this baby...

...will be coming home with me very soon!!!

I'm soooooooo excited

She's a Janome 6600

...the very same machine that Dana gave away recently. I wasn't lucky enough to win that one, and I never dreamed that I would just happen to be in the right place at the right time to get this one, especially for 50% off!!!

My new family member is going to need a name befitting her......

SSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

Here's the deal...

I'm going to have a little give-away;););)

It's a one shot deal...

Leave me a comment...with a way to get in touch with you...telling me what name you think would fit her and why. If I choose yours, I will be mailing you a package of goodies...all sewing related.

So, get your suggestions in...and spread the word...

Starting now...On your mark, get set, GO...

I will be choosing a name by this coming Friday...July 17th.

Good Luck to all

and thanks;)

A Needle Case and a Pincushion

This is the pattern that I won from a drawing that Cheryl had a couple of weeks ago. I think it will be fun to make, but I don't think I'll get to it until sometime in August.

I will have family here visiting for a couple of weeks and then I'm heading to California to visit my oldest daughter and her girls and to go to the second annual International Quilt Festival that's going to be held in Long Beach;)

This is the logo from last year.

I participated in a pincushion swap last month.

This is what I used to make the pincushion for my swapee...

I did a little quilting...

can you see it???

Right there in the center...

on the orange...

...added a little homemade piping...

Used to make piping all the time when my kids were little and I did a lot of smocking;)

...did a little more stitching...

...and this is how it turned out...

...a view from the side...

...and a view from the top...

Now, in the world of pincushions, this one would be considered an extra large pincushion. Maybe even XXL!!! Ya know the kind that won't ever get lost??? If you spread your fingers out as far as you can and measure from your thumb to your pinky...you'll get the idea...like I said, XXL;)

I mailed it off to Jantine, in the Netherlands, along with a quilt magazine, embroidery floss, a pretty pink fat quarter, and a spool of variegated pink thread.
She has posted pictures on her blog;)
Stop by and pay her a visit. You'll be happy you did;)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with TOST;)

Pincushions/Placemats/Block Swap/and a WIN

Well, here I am again, barley able to get two posts up a month. Could it be because I work way too many hours??? This past week I worked 84...yes, that's right...84 hours! I can't believe that I did it. Fifteen of those hours were on July 4th! Bring on the holiday/overtime ;););) You might wonder why I would even consider working that many hours, or you might not, but the reason is purely selfish...I'm going to the International Quilt Festival later this month that's being held for the second year in Long Beach, CA and I want to have lots n lots of $ to spend. Last year was the first year that the festival was held in Long Beach...and as luck would have it...my daughter lives on the beach, within blocks of the LB Convention Center. The best of both worlds...I get to visit with my daughter and granddaughters and go to the festival;)

There will be more to come on both of these subjects...you can be sure;)

Now, let's take the title of this blog in reverse...

A WIN...

I was one of the lucky winners of Cheryl's Sampler Embroidery Folder Pattern. I'm patiently waiting for it to arrive in the mail, but it has a very long way to travel before it gets here.

Cheryl has an ongoing embroidered BOM that is awesome...go check it out...I'm sure you'll like it;)

BLOCK SWAP...

I'm participating in the 4 Seasons Quilt Swap where we make two sets of 20 blocks each and then mail them to our swap mama, Margaret.

These are the two sets that I sent...

The color here is really bad

I tried to get the color right by taking pictures inside and outside.

The one above is the inside pic and the one below is the outside pic

The colors here are a little closer, but the picture is a bit fuzzy

These blocks were some that I had never made before, but they worked up really quick and there's a great tutorial here.

I can hardly wait to see what comes in the mail in the next few weeks;)

PLACE MATS

I am also participating in a PLACE MAT SWAP. My swap partner, Rock Granny, lives in Croatia and I will be sending what I made for her as soon as she gets her address to me.

Because she has not received her package yet I will wait to show any pictures.

Again, this was a first for me. Place mats aren't something that I've done before, but I had fun doing this project...and see more in my future;)

PINCUSHION

I participated in a PINCUSHION SWAP that was hosted by Sandra and haven't heard that my swapee has gotten her package yet, so I'll just give you a little peek...

My swap partner doesn't know who I am, so I'm not too worried that she will see it before her package gets to her home...far, far away over the ocean (Atlantic). I hope she will like it;)

My Pincushion(s) came in the mail last week, but with me working so many hours I didn't have a chance to show it/them off.

My package came from Erin. Erin lives in Malaysia;)

Just look at all of the goodies she sent me...

Not one, but two pincushions!;)

I love how the pattern on the round one looks so 3D and the colors in the square one are very fun;)

Erin also sent me fabric, buttons, thread, and ribbon...

How lucky am I;)

Erin, thanks sooooooo much for the pin cushions, ribbon, thread, buttons, and the fabric;) I'm sure that I will have lots of fun with all of them;)

I hope that you all have a great week with TOST

(Tons Of Sewing Time)

A Hopping We Will Go

I got a text msg from my youngest daughter Wednesday morning that said...I'm going to Joann's when they open, if they don't have what I want I'm going to the Corn Wagon...do you want to go? Well, I will never pass up a trip to The Corn Wagon, especially if it happens to be on my day off, so I said sure. We went to Joann's and my daughter picked up a few things and because she needed a few more things, we headed for The Corn Wagon. It just so happened that Wednesday was the first day of the annual Wasatch Shop Hop. We went last year and had talked about going this year, but never made any plans to do so...that is until we got to the Corn Wagon. The Shop Hop is a blast! There are 15 quilt shops all up and down the Wasatch Front that participate and it's so much fun to travel to each shop and just absorb TONS of inspiration;) Wednesday saw us traveling a whole lot of miles and making it to 12 of the 15 shops. We finished on Thursday by heading north, about 2 hours from the city we live in, to hit the remaining 3 shops. We traveled over 400 miles between all of the shops!

Now for the good stuff...

Quilts...Quilts...and more Quilts...oh yeah, and meeting a couple of ladies whose blogs I follow regularly...

The theme this year was ...

Trip Around The Town

Each shop had their rendition of the theme quilt displayed for all hoppers to see.

Here are a few of them...

You all know of the plethora of ideas you get when you enter a quilt shop...well, multiply that times 15 and that's what's been swimming around in my head for the past few days;)

One of the shops that we went to is called Piper's. Piper's had a lot of quilts hanging outside and while I was trying to get a few pictures of them, I saw a lady that I thought I recognized...

It was Kim from Bitty Bits & Pieces

Once inside, I also ran into Nedra from Cactus Needle

Both of these ladies have awesome blogs filled with all kinds of fun things and information. Take a few minutes to check out their blogs. You won't be disappointed;)

My daughter took this picture of Nedra, me, and Kim (and my grandson's hands)

And now because I like to include pictures of flowers in my posts here's one of the Hollyhocks that Piper's grows outside their shop. They even sell the seeds in the Fall.

I hope your week is going well;)

RAIN, Rain...

This time of the year, where I live, we get a fair amount of rain. We've already had two to three time the rain that we usually get by now. The local joke is...if you don't like the weather...just wait 5 minutes...

I took a bag class with one of my daughters yesterday. It was held at the Corn Wagon and we used a Melly and Me pattern...

No one was able to finish in the class, but I had a little time this morning and so was able to finish mine;)

I have been working on my quilt, along with everyone, over at Old Red Barn...

The top is together;)

Now I will wait until Monday morning to see what the next part of the challenge is;)

I hope that you are all having a great week that includes lots-n-lots of sewing;)

See What I Did This Week...

Seems to me that I've been quite productive this week especially since I worked 68 hours...

Come along with me and I'll show you what I've been working on...

First we have the beginnings of my 9-patch that I've been working on along with CMQ

...these 3 pictures are the first 2 strips to my quilt minus 1 square on each strip...lost those in the photo shoot (where are my photographer daughters when I need them??? Hmmmm could it be that one of them lives in California and the other one lives in Minnesota and I don't live in either one of those states...). When this quilt is finished it will be 10 blocks by 10 blocks plus sashing and borders. The blocks are 6" finished and the sashing is 1" finished, but I'm not sure how I'm going to do the borders yet, so I don't know just what the finished size will be. I have all of my blocks made and some of the sashing cut...yet another LIW (Lady In Waiting) to add to my list;)

Number 2 is an apron that I've wanted to make for a long time, but was unable to find the pattern. I was out shopping on Saturday and not only found the pattern, but found some fabric to go with the pattern...

How do you like the Zebra and Turquoise together???

Number 3 is for a swap that I'm participating in...

Any guesses on just what it might be???
The pink fabric under the striped fabric is the 'wrong side' so it doesn't give the true shade of pink. It does have more blue in it than the stripe, but I think it will work out just fine...at least I hope so;)



Fourth...

A few more grannies to go with the yellow
ones I posted about in my last post...

We'll find out this month if my youngest daughter is having a girl or a boy, and next month we'll find out what my middle daughter is having;)

#5

These are my strips of fabric all sewn together, cut into squares and ready to go for the next step in the mystery quilt I'm making along with Dana and hundreds, yes hundreds, of others over at Old Red Barn

Tomorrow Dana will reveal just exactly how all of these squares are supposed to go together. Can't wait for that;)

And last, but not least...

This is a picture of a friend of mine from work. We had a baby shower for her on Thursday. I made her a little quilt and had Leslie
make a pair of matching baby shoes. Can you see them there in Debbie's left hand?? They are so tiny and adorable;) They stole the show and got lots of Oooooooo's and Aaaaahhhhhh's;)

The top of the quilt is flannel and the back is polar fleece.

I quilted around the moons on the blue squares and did free hand stars on the yellow squares. I'm sorry you can't see them in this picture...Oh yeah, and the back of the quilt is the same shade of blue as the lighter shade of blue on the moon squares.

I can't figure why the colors in some of my pictures just don't look like they should...

Some day I'm going to seriously have to read the book of instructions that came with my camera...I'm not a techy by any means...bet ya couldn't guess that;)

I was off this weekend, but don't have another day off until Father's Day and that's 2 weeks away...so I think that my progress is going to be slowed some.

I hope that you all have a wonderful and productive week;)
Happy Sewing;)

Stripped And Ready to Sew

Candy Kisses

by Sandy Gervais

for Moda

is the fabric line that I have chosen to use for my mystery quilt that Dana is hosting over at

Old Red Barn Co

See the button on my side bar just to the right...

I jumped on the band wagon a little late, but I'm caught up and can't wait to get going. Since it's a mystery...I hope that these fabrics will be a good choice. I love the line and because it's not one of Moda's 'new' lines, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I don't run out before my quilt is finished.

I've been working on a lot of projects over the past few weeks and that along with working a whole lot of hours has kept me very busy.....

So without further adieu, let me show you what I've been up to...

As you can see...some granny squares...46 of them to be exact. My two youngest girls are expecting babies a month apart, one in November and one in December. We will find out in June and then July what they are having and so I thought I would get a jump start on making a blanket for each of them. This pic is a little off, but the color looks just like Kraft Mac and Cheese;p

When we find out what they are having I will then choose a color to go with these and then start on more granny squares.

The older of my two youngest daughters has developed anti-bodies in her blood as the result of a blood transfusion she had to have after the birth of her first child. She also has gestational diabetes and with each pregnancy, it rears it's ugly head earlier in the pregnancy. All of this has made her 'high risk' and so the doctors are keeping a very close eye on her.

Here are a couple of (side ways) dresses that I have made for a couple of my grand daughters

Sorry about them being sideways (thought I'd fixed that).
I have 3 more dresses that I have made like these, but no pics of them. Guess I'll have to do something about that...

This is a cute little picture frame that I helped one of my granddaughters make for her kindergarten teacher. I found a tutorial for it. It's the Fabric Picture Frame Tutorial by Rachel Very gooooooey and very funnnnn;)

This picture doesn't do it justice but we sure had fun making it. We wrapped it up in some pink tissue paper and tied it with a strip of pink fabric with cherries on it. Needless to say, the teacher was thrilled with it;)

The fabric that we used in the picture frame project is the fabric that I am using for my 9 patch project that CMQ inspired me to do. Since my sewing time varies as to the number of hours and the days that I can devote to my projects I just have to do what I can when I can. AJ invited all to join her in in making just one 9 patch block a day...and to make as many, or as few as desired. This was my first block...

...No contrast, you say? Well you would be right;) But I LOVE these colors, so this block and the other two that I have that are like it will be "re-purposed".

So........now my 9-patch is blues and yellows, as you can see from the frame. I have always wanted a blue and yellow quilt, and so I will have one, just as soon as I get this one finished. Right now I have two rows sewn together with white sashing. I was trying to get pictures of my layout, but I was working on it out on the front lawn and Mr. Wind thought he'd pay me a visit and well... I'm sure you can imagine just what happened. I will take pictures of my progress later this week and get them posted so you can see just how this LIW (Lady In Waiting) is coming along;)

So that, and more, is what I've been doing with my spare time...what have you been doing with yours?

Just a couple of more things before I go...please drop by and say HI to Leslie. She's getting into sewing/quilting and discovering just what a blast and creative outlet it is. Her giraffe quilt is

A-W-E-S-O-M-E

as are her other projects, but the giraffe quilt was her first and her own design!!! A very talented young lady (and yes, she is one of mine).

And just a couple of the pics I took this morning on the way home from work

(0630)

I hope that you all have a terrific week with lot of time to do the things you want to do;)

Happy Mother's Day

I rode my bike to work the other day so I could take these pictures of some of Mother Nature's handiwork...

I think she must have been taking notes when she was in Color Theory Class;)

If you ever need some help with what colors look good together just take a walk outside and you might find something you like. I don't think Mother Nature would mind if you 'borrowed' some of her ideas;)

I wish you all a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Enjoy your weekend;)

A Few of the Things I've Been Working On

These are a few of the things that I've been working on this week...

This is a crocheted bag that really gave me a workout.

I used a size N crochet hook and 2" strips of fabric. It needs some finishing, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the way it truned out. One of my co-workers, a guy, said it was, "very Springy".

I jumped on the band wagon with Amanda Jean and her block-a-day Quilt Along.

This will be a simple quilt, just 9 patch blocks, and we will be making one a day. I will be using fabric that is in my stash, as much as I can. It will be BRIGHT! The perfect Summer Quilt;)

This is a quilt top, minus the borders that I'm working on for one of my granddaughters.

It went together very fast. Now all I have to do is figure out what to use for the borders and the back. I have a couple of blocks, that didn't get used on the front, that will be going into the back of the quilt. I love a pieced back with a little suprise sewn in here and there.

We had a really good rain storm this past Saturday and we're supposed to get another one tonight. I guess this means that we'll have lots and lots of May Flowers;)

I just hope that it doesn't get too hot too fast and the flowers wilt.

Here's to a great week with lots of sewing time worked in;)

Virtual Quilt Festival

There's a Virtual Quilt Festival going on over at Amy's . Go check it out and join in on all of the fun;)

This is a picture of one of my favorite quilts that I have made and here's why...although it's not very big, only about 30" x 30", I made up and drew the design, hand appliqued the stars and hearts on it with a button hole stitch and then hand quilted it.

As imperfect as it is, probably the reason this one is so near and dear to my heart is that a very young grandson spent the night and he asked me if I could take it off of the wall and cover him up with it. We left this one on the wall and covered him up with a bigger quilt and he was OK with that because he could still see my Stars and Hearts Quilt;)

Enjoy the VQF:)

Time For a Little Catch Up

First of all, I would like to thank all of you that sent well wishes regarding my kids and their so journ through the snow to come out for a visit. I truly appreciate it. My kids did finally get here, almost two days later than planned because of the snow in Cheyenne, Wyoming. As unhappy as I was about them being stuck in Cheyenne for nearly two days because of said snow, I was happy about it keeping them here for several extra days while yet another storm hit us and, again closed the roads. They are now back in MN and getting back to life as usual.

One week ago tomorrow this is what my front yard had all over it...

...over 9" of snow fell in less than 24 hours! Today it's been in the mid 70's...dare I say it...could Spring finally be here???

Here's a hint that it just might be...

Hopefully, it will stick around for awhile;)

This quilt top was a BOM that I did awhile back and, until a couple of weeks ago, remained a LIW (Lady in Waiting)...

This middle picture has the truest color

...ALL FINISHED...;););)

I made these three skirts...

...out of this...

...old jeans and lots and lots of ribbon and trim...

I made little bags out of the leg pieces that I cut off of the jeans;) I also made a couple of of pillows for 2 of my grandsons. I get so excited about giving them the things that I make for them that I forget all about taking pictures.

I'm participating in Connie W's (Cootie Bugg 2) Siggy Block Swap. I'm just waiting to get my blocks...all 60 of them and then I'll have to figure out how I'm going to put them together.

Projects in the works are...a crocheted bag, my red, white, and blue afghan, new scrubb tops for work, my applique block from the Linda Jenkins' class I took, and..., and..., I think you get the picture.

I just have to add one more picture of the snow from last week...

This is one of the trees in my front yard...I think the picture looks pretty cool (no pun intended) with the black of the trunk and the white of the snow.

I hope it's not too late to wish you all a happy week;)