Finn Got Me Off Track

Now it doesn't take much to get me way off track but Finn did it today. She has this great tutorial on her blog for a great Christmas table runner. I really wanted to do one for my table this year and this one is quick and easy. Check it out and you can join me up to my neck in several projects going all at once.

Here are my strips sub cut into four sections. They went together in a snap but I had to quit when I got this far. I have Julia's quilt on a table in the middle of the family room so I can tie it. If we are to move around tomorrow, I need to get with it.




Here is 1/2 a block that I sewed together just to see how my fabrics looked. The green is a little off in this picture. It has gold glitter specks in it and so does the light fabric. I used the WOF for my stips and have 22 so I can make a long runner or two smaller ones. I will decide when I see how it looks put together.

Crazy Nana

The great white hunter had to be a work this morning at five, so we were up about four. DD picked me up at five and we hit Kohl's big sale. We stood in a check out line for over a hour and this is what NANA bought!



They are really soft and when you squeeze them, they chatter. The "chatter" is just a bunch of weird sounds! The kids will love them and what better thing for a Nana to do with her time?

We had a great day yesterday, full of family and good food. Julia's seventh birthday is today so we celebrated that while we were all together. We have so much to be thankful for, we are truly blessed.

Blocks Finally Done!

I am about a week behind on Julia's Christmas quilt thanks to my decision to dump the green, but I am happy with the result. I spent a good bit of time with the seam ripper and there are bits of thread all over the house. I was playing with layout and snapped this picture. It will have a pink border and backing with the blue for binding. Hopefully I can finish by this weekend, then I need to shop for fabric for one for Colin. Learned a few things, and that is my goal with every quilt I do. I am pleased with the result.

Happy Now

I just had to get rid of that green in Julia's quilt. Honestly, it made me want to run and hide just looking at it. So, the great white hunter and I hit two fabric stores today and stood and compared, discussed, agreed, disagreed and finally hit pay dirt. Now I disagreed a little because I didn't care for the price of what we found but, he said "Just don't look at the price and let's go." I love that man!

He is a lot of help choosing colors and doesn't mind going to fabric shops or quilt shows with me. I am a lucky lady. (of course, he was with me when WE bought the sick green too, but we all make mistakes!)

I am happy with the result. My new seam ripper and I will spend some quality time this weekend. Now any suggestions what to do with that awful green?

Anybody Have One of These?

The great white hunter and I bought one of these for our grand daughter for Christmas. We bought her a toy Singer sewing machine last year but it was just that, a toy. It was a cute replica but useless to sew with. She wants to sew like Nana and we want to encourage it. We also wanted something for her to grow with but not too difficult to start. So, we found this at Hancock's today and it seemed to be ideal. I opened it and threaded it along with a bobbin and sewed a couple of seams. It seemed to work really well and was easy to thread. It doesn't go as fast as a regular machine and I liked that because when she sewed on my machine, it seemed to scare her a little.

The box has a big blurb on it saying it is NOT a toy and says ages 8+. She will be using it only with my close supervision so that is not a problem.

It comes with three bobbins and one extra needle and a good instruction book. No where in the book does it say what type needle to buy, just the number size of the needle. So, will need to find that out, the Janome site doesn't show this machine at all.

I know some of you buy these smaller machines for classes and travel, wondered what you think? Thanks!

Sunglasses Recommended

This one might just glow in the dark and keep her awake at night! I couldn't find fabric that I felt went well with the other cats on the focus fabric so went with the green for the green kitty. Wow, it does kind of jump out at you. Good thing that seven year old girls like bright colors. I am in hopes when I add the pink border it will come together, please tell me it will come together!!!

This is the very reason I hate to pick out fabric, I am never sure what the end result will be. Oh well, she will love it because Nana made it just for her. Nana might cringe every time she sees it but live and learn.

This is the 9 patch that you start with, then slice it down the center and then slice those two pieces down the center.


This is what you get. I love this, it is quick and easy, however, if I do another one I will make sure that my focus fabric is not going in one direction. Keeping those squares straight was not fun. I know for most, it would be no problem but, it was definately for me. I will forever be in the learning stages of this quilting thing.




My red and white quilt using this pattern is almost done. I just need to add another row to the bottom to make it long enough for the day bed. I found a white dust ruffle at Wal Mart but I will need to modify it for the day bed. It has three sides but not the three sides that a day bed ruffle has. So, need to take some off the back and put it on the side. Think this will be a "after the holidays" project.

Thank You to Our Veterans

In honor of Veteran's Day, here is a picture of my husband's hard earned Air Force Stripes. He served almost 23 years and is a Vietnam veteran. It was not a easy life, we spent a lot of time apart, have a son who was 8 months old before his Daddy even saw him. It was our choice, what we believed in and I am proud of him on this special day.

My father and his father and our oldest son also served our country. My prayers are with the families of so many young men who are serving our country now. My heart goes out to the mother's and father's, the wives and children, who wait for their safe return. I wish them a safe return and the support of their country while they serve.

Let's Get With It!

In case anyone else is having problems getting moving on Christmas things, I put that tree there to motivate you/me. I need to get my you know what up off the couch and get with it. I normally would not touch anything that even looked like a Christmas decoration this early. I get disgusted big time when I hear Christmas music before the day after Thanksgiving, as much as I love it. Something has got to get me moving here soon though and maybe that little number telling how many days left will do the trick?

I am open to any and all suggestions on how to get into Christmas gift making spirit when it is still in the 90's and I am wearing shorts! Sorry, moving to a colder climate is not an option.

Another Great Quick Quilt, Same Pattern

I love this one! I have bright kitten fabric that I want to use for Julia's Christmas gift quilt. This one will be perfect because it will use more of the focus. Thank you Life is a Stitch.

Now, two links in one day.....by George, I think I MIGHT have it!

Here goes, got my toes and fingers crossed, holding my breath so hopefully I can get a link that works on here for the quick quilt in the last post.

All of a sudden, I remembered what I needed to do to get the link to work.....at least I THINK! That's the funny thing about getting older. The information isn't lost, it just comes to you in installments! Oh dear, is that scary or what?

So here goes...........Life is a Stitch

So, dear Fitzy, it was not as bad as you thought here at my house. (very, very big sigh).

More Than Half Way There

I found a tutorial for a fast quilt on a blog called Life is a Stitch. I have tried to add a link but for the life of me can't remember how to get it in the body of the post.

I am thinking about quick Christmas gifts but wanted to give it a try to see how it went and how it looked made up. She doesn't call it that, but I believe this is the Disappearing Nine Patch block. Just to make sure that there is NO copyright problem here.........I have no idea who wrote the book on this but I acknowledge that there is someone out there!

This is my first STASH quilt too. My "stash" doesn't have a lot of yardage. It's more odds and ends, pieces added from here and there. I love scrap quilts and applique so I buy a lot of remnants. So, this is the first quilt that I could put together on the spot without a trip to buy something. My great white hunter will be SO impressed! I think this is going on the daybed in the sewing/guest bedroom. It really needs a new bedspread and shams but I haven't been able to find anything that I liked well enough to pay over a hundred dollars for. Now if I can find a white twin bed bed skirt somewhere!

Here is what the first set of 9 patch blocks looks like once it is cut, sewn and then sewn together. I wasn't sure if there would be too much white but I am really pleased with the look I got.



Here are the pinned 9 patch units that will be cut in half both ways after they are sewn.

Quilt 4 Fun

Look at my sidebar! It's the new link icon for the Quilt 4 Fun web ring. This will replace the Quilt4Pleasure ring. Thanks to Swooze for getting this going for us. I am much happier about the placement of my blog in this ring so looking forward to reading lots of blogs with quilt type postings! Thanks to Kim for all her great work on the Quilt 4 Pleasure ring.