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Monday, March 30, 2015

Happy Days Ahead



Well, this is the end... of last week.
But where do I start?

Last Monday... just before bed... a normal day turned into something
quite different.

If you know me at all, you know I am quite versed in all things medical,
 at least as relating to my DH.
All of a sudden my poor man was in agonizing pain and it wasn't but a heartbeat
after I saw that his leg was completely white that I called 911.
They came, and scooped him up and took him to ER.
One of my son's  joined me for the trip and we arrived at the hospital
shortly after. 
DH had a blood clot that was blocking his artery to his leg.

I never imagined what that meant.

NEVER would I have thought I would hear:
 "if plan A doesn't work, we will have to amputate your leg".

Are you kidding me?
Instead of a rock and a hard place it was a clot and a hard place.

I am so very happy to share that plan A worked.
(even though a return to plan B was in effect until X hours after the surgery)

So the week went by... and by the weekend I was bringing that brave man home!
The photo above was of some much needed retail therapy...
I am thinking of it as my shot in the arm.

I'm sure you would understand.








Monday, March 23, 2015

Quilting Group Porjects


Did you celebrate National Quilting Day?
I did find time to play in the sewing room on Saturday... and
a little bit on Sunday too!
The project above is a pattern by Carrie Nelson that we
are working on this month in the AYOS group.


I am super excited to get this quilt put together. 
My focus this weekend was to work on my Bees Knees
quilts. I have 3 unfinished quilts as a result of being
The one above is my current project.
I still have blocks coming back to me, so this quilt will 
grow more! 
I love the look of it so far though! 


This was a result of my first year in the Bees Knees.
Everyone made the wheel blocks for me.
But from there I was suppose to make them into octagon shape...
and then into squares. I know! It's scary just to think about it!
So I have put it off for quite a long time!
Nerve wraking! 
But... since it was National Quilting Day... I got braved and
attempted it!
I think it's working too!!! 
I think I will be playing with this one throughout this week.
I will share my progress!
(this quilt is one I saw first at Hyacinth Blog)

This is another one that I did along with my Bees Knees group.
I only had the blocks half way sewn together. I kept thinking I was going to make
it larger. But after looking at it I figured it was just fine the size it
is. So, I sewed the rest of the blocks together. 
It was a pattern from Moda Bake Shop. I think it's called
Starry-eyed. I love the Countdown Til Christmas fabric that
the original was made in but since I embarked on this journey
long after that fabric was available my fabric choice was this
group by Aneela Hoey.


Now, this is a photo depicting my lunch hour today.
It made for a nice break in the day.

I think this is how I will spend my lunch time everyday this week!


Friday, March 20, 2015

Spring Cleaning... on the blog

I made a new discovery yesterday!

I figured out why,
 as in
why in the heck
I have not been able to post comments on 
your blogs. For the past several months this has been 
an issue for me. So much so, that I have given up trying...
sometimes I will just Email my comment instead.
But it is so frustrating!

I heard that the same problem exists for 
some of you who wanted to leave comments.
Hopefully you will give it another try now.


Now... since I have been in the inner workings of my blog...
I thought I would attempt to do something with my 
banner. It is awfully plain isn't it?
To say the least.

I had thought of  making a photo banner.
I am still looking for a method of doing that.
But I did find a couple of 
ideas I thought I might try out in lieu of
a photo banner.


This one might be cute.


Or this one.

I thought I would just post them here to see how they will go with my background.

Anyway... I will keep playing with this for a couple of days.

Do you have any good resources for banners? 
I would really like to  try a photo one also.

And, what about blog buttons? 
Does anybody still use them?
Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Lots of Loving Going on Here

A whole week has flown by! 


Let me give you a picture tour of what I have been up to!
First of all, I went to the beach with a couple of 
girlfriends! My first time to this part of the Central Coast of
California... Cambria!
I have a new beach and little town to love.
And... just so you know, they have a great yarn shop there too.


And did a bunch of this while we were there!
I love walking on the beach... and just planting myself
in a chair to enjoy the view also! 



Back at home... I also spent time with my stepson
and little Noah who is a month old now!
Isn't he such a happy daddy? 
I love this little sweetie pie.


Did I tell you that my sweet son Tauren got engaged to Heather here
while they were traveling. 
I love this girl! Well, and him too  of course!

So now there is a lot of dress shopping and other 
planning
going on!!!
Gotta love wedding planning!


And of course there was also time to whip up a few
blocks for the AYOS group: Little Bites Sampler.
There are just addicting!
I love this pattern.


While I was going through fabrics to use in the 
blocks in the  above... I uncovered this 
little project! I found that I have 6 blocks made and
just three more to go! 
I have been laying low on any big undertakings but 
I think I can handle this one! The pattern is Betsy's Closet In Stitches
 by

Betsy's Closet - In Stitches

It's just too cute... I have to get this one finished!
It's adorable, right?

Monday, March 9, 2015

Spring Forward and A Colorful Twist (book review)

I can't tell you how happy I am to
 have daylight savings time back! 
We had a gorgeous weekend here... 
so I was busy with 
yard work. The bulbs are already
 sprouting up around the property!
We moved to this new house last summer... 
so, I had to get busy and plant bulbs
here last fall. I just hope 
I remembered to plant gladiolas.
They are one of  my
favorite bulbs to see pop up around 
the perimeter of the lawn area. 

I also moved my sewing room (over the last couple of weekends) to
the sun room. I have glass on 2 1/2 sides. Which has it's benefits...
but I had to keep in mind where I would be keeping my fabrics...
trying to avoid sun damage. 
I think I will like the new "creative space"!
I'm not quite ready to share pictures yet... but I will
soon... very soon!


Have you seen the new book A New Twist: 
Create Quilts With A Modern Spin
 out at your LQS?
I am excited aobut Natalie's book because I have made a couple of quilts from her
patterns... that were great!

Martingale - A Modern Twist (Print version + eBook bundle)

 (all photos by Brent Kane)



It is loaded with inspiring projects... fresh, modern, and colorful!
This is a book that you will also want to actually read as much as you
will want to make the projects from it.


This one just looks like fun!
 I think I want to use my low volume fabric stash for this one.

Well, all of the quilts and projects look fun... perfect for Spring time sewing!

I think the quilting on these quilts, by Angela Walters, who writes a section in the book, 
 will inspire you to make sure they
get finished! 

Aside from the wonderfully well written instructions...
you will also get a fun lesson in color theory... painless... I promise you!
Natalie will take you on a journey of  learning the three C's: Color Contrast and
Composition. But the best part is that it's not just learning "how"... but also learning "why".



I felt like I really got to know Natalie... her personality
really comes through! 



So there is a blog hop going on right now... so you might want to check it out
and try to win a copy of the book!
Or you can get a copy right now from Martingale Publishers here.

Here is one of the stops on the blog hop.
Fingers crossed for you to win!

I hope enjoy the book as much as I do.




Friday, March 6, 2015

Trunk Show Recap



I thought I would show you a few of the photos taken 
last night at my trunk show for the 
Quilter's Paradise Retreat at Bass Lake. 








I am sure there were some better photos taken... 
but I just wanted to show you the few I had.
It was a fun event. There were about 70 women there.
I know a handful of them... so that made it easier!


Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Winners and Other Exciting News

I have a couple of winners from the Jumping Jack mini AYOS parade!



First up is Hildy! Her Jumping Jack was posted on Sherri's parade.
Congratulations... your version is so cute!


and from my parade
the randomly chosen winner is Polly!
It's a beautiful version!

Please send me your addresses and you will be receiving a special 
gift in the mail from Joanna aka Miss Fig Tree.

I never mentioned my trunk show from last week... and now I will be 
doing another one tomorrow night!
My vintage suitcases came in handy for transporting... 
and also for display
purposes.

This was the only photo I took. It was before I started speaking.
It is a little nerve wracking (is that the right word)? 
But after I got started I had a lot of fun... and I hope everyone else did also.
They even wanted me to show some extra quilts that I had brought
but were not yet quilted.  I just wanted to keep it real. There are 
probably more of the flimsy's than the quilted ones.



Monday, March 2, 2015

Jump... jump, Jumping Jack Parade!

I'm so sorry that you had to wait an extra day for the Jumping Jack parade!

I am excited to share our next AYOS (and a Little Bit More) project...

This will be another small quilt. 
I hope that doesn't scare you away.


If you, like me, have been missing Miss Rosie...
well, we want to announce
 the next project. 
It's a
 Miss Rosie's Little Bites 
pattern
called. 
Sample.

Little Bites Quilt Pattern from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. This is a sampler quilt that uses mini charm packs

I want to think of it as a tribute to Carrie for the inspiration she has 
been over the past years... how many is it now? 5? 6? 
I hope you will agree with me and want to take on this challenge. 
The Sample parade will be April 1st. Plenty of time to play with 
this Little Bites pattern. 
You can purchase the
downloadable version at Fat Quarter Shop...
just in case you are interested!

Joanna, the Patriotic Quilter jumped on it and made the pattern as soon as
it came out. You can read about it here.

Isn't it beautiful?

Now for our parade today...
Here is the inspiration for our AYOS project this month:
It's the Fig Tree and Co. pattern
mini Jumping Jack.
Last summer (I think it was summer)
there was a quilt along with the large version of this pattern.
I had wanted to sew along but wasn't able to join in with everyone.
So, I was happy to get a chance to make one along with 
the others in our group for our February project.

photo via pinterest via A Quilting Life

I only wish there were more quilts in the parade... it would have been 
so fun to see more versions of this pattern. 
I can see it in black and white and yellow...
I will have to remember that... 
it would be a fun one to make!



Here is my Jumping Jack mini.
 I used a little bit stronger colors
in it so that I can gift it to my oldest son when it's finished.
He has a Union Jack coffee table and other various British items
in his home decor.


I am happily showing Cathy's Jumping Jack... 
she is new to AYOS  and is a sweet friend! 
She doesn't have a blog
 but she is on Instagram: Moonrayview.

I love the PKM fabric mix and especially the black 
cornerstone fabric and binding! 


Cute, cute, cute!

Peggy made a fun variation of Jumping Jack to add to your mini quilt wall.
It adds just the right touch! 


Polly from Aunt Polly's Porch went a little different direction with her 
little Jumping Jack quilt!I really like this idea and of course, her fabrics and colors are
fabulous! It will be a great summer table runner.


Well, that is a short and sweet parade. 
I hope you hop over to A Quilting Life to see more of the Jumping Jack 
parade of mini's.