Dizzy, Dizzy Pinwheels or Pinwheels Go Round and Round

I bought a charm pack earlier this year that had lots of stripes and black squares. I love pinwheels so I thought I would go crazy and make a pinwheel quilt with them.

OK, if you sew a bunch of narrow stripes together you get a dizzying effect lol.  I thought about making it a zig zag quilt to cut back on the swirling effect but it didn't work out quite right. Then I thought maybe I should mix in some plain squares to offset the spinning but decided to just go for it. I will probably add a border once I find the right fabric or fabrics.

The way I see it is that not everyone likes the same thing in style and colors. I like to make a variety of quilts so hopefully if someone is looking for a quilt they can find something they like. I know that I am not a traditional quilter so I may as well embrace with style.

Birthday Britches

Last Christmas I made lounge pants for my niece and nephew. Since they liked them I thought I could get away with making more for birthdays :) Christine is in High School now and is harder to make things for. Her birthday is this month (a few days ago actually) so I made her a new pair of lounge pants. They are blue with white stars. Baggy and long...just the way the kids like them.

Apple Pie Bars

I have been a subscribe to Family Fun for several years. The magazine is loaded with lots of fun things and great information. Plus, each  month there is a kid friendly recipe. The recipe has great step by step instructions so you can prepare it with your kids. I have made several of these recipes and they always come out wonderful.

A couple months ago the recipe was for apple pie bars. Everyone in our house loves apple pie. My pies are usually delicious in flavor but are not very appealing to the eye. I have never been able to make one that doesn't have the big air pocket between the filling and the top crust. With this recipe you don't have to worry about that.

I used refrigerator dough to make it easy. It took two boxes because of the size of my pan. I just layed the dough in the pan and trimmed the extra off and added it in where it looked a bit skimpy. For the filling I had bought some McIntosh apples like the recipe calls for. They are Hubby's favorite so he will eat the left overs. The recipe said to use an ungreased pan...bad idea for a refrigerated pie dough. Next time I will use some pan spray because the bottom crust stuck miserably. That's why you have no inside pics. That and we ate it too fast. This was the most delicious apple pie we have ever had. The tartness of the apples played well with the sugar and cinnamon. I skipped the glaze on top because it didn't need the extra sweetness and we don't need the extra calories either. I think with the next one I will skimp a bit more on the cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top too.

I think next time I better make a double batch because it was gone in a couple days. Delicious!

More mice in the house

This is the adorable Little Miss Mousie that I received from Courtney as part of the Year Of Enchantment. I haven't heard of Kalahari yarn before so it will be fun to work up something new with it. Maybe some wrist warmers, I haven't decided yet.  Thanks Courtney!

More retail therapy

I placed and received an order from Keepsake Quilting a couple weeks ago. I saw the skeleton pattern last year and didn't order it. I had it in my mind all year long and when the Fall catalog came out I ordered it!

The white bones glow in the dark. Fun!! Of course there is no sense in  just ordering one kit when it is the same postage to order a few patterns too :)

These bucket bags a adorable!

Then they had a deal where you buy a mystery package of patterns at a discount. I don't normally buy mystery items because they are usually patterns I don't care for but I took the chance anyways.

I do like these pins but they are patterns that I could draw myself.

Because my name is Robin did they send me this one?

OK, this one is cool. I've been thinking of doing some kind of fun log cabin quilt and this might be the one.

Have you bought anything fun lately?

Spreading the love

I have been a member over at Ravelry for 3 years. I love the format they have there. There are so many amazing patterns and designers. I haven't visited there much in the last few months though. I've recently been drawn back  in.  As a designer and member, I have the ability to place my patterns in a store.

These are my current patterns. It took me a couple hours to figure out how to get my store ready and get these patterns uploaded/listed. It wasn't hard, just user error. Probably shouldn't have tried when I was tired and had a headache.

I love the mirrored effect in this picture. I found it playing over at Picnick.

So, have you heard about the new quilting craze?

In case you haven't heard, the Go! cutter from Accuquilt is what lots of quilters and bloggers are buzzing about lately. Jane over at Jane's Fabrics and Quilts is one of the latest bloggers who are having a Go! give away. 

Boo

See the upper right corner, yep another windy day lol


I was playing in my Halloween stash again. This time I broke out the Go! cutter and tumbler die.  I cut a bunch of tumblers and then started playing. I still need to sew down the letters and ghosts and then add a border.

Hubby really likes both of them but I'm still on the fence. I think the second one is better though. The first one just seems a bit busy for my eyes but that might change once I add the border(s). I do like wall hangings or table toppers that have words on them.

95 Days Until Christmas

It's time to put the Christmas countdown back up on the blog again. It seems there are only 95 days left until Christmas. Have you started you holiday crafting yet?

I've been working on some Christmas stockings. I can't seem to make just one of anything. I figure if I'm going to go through the process of making one, I may as well work assembly line style and make a bunch. These will being going into the shop.

I found a new way to display my items too. I was trying to take pictures out front one night and the wind was driving me crazy. Robbie suggested I try out back since the back of the neighbor's houses sit further back then ours and provides a little relief from the wind. It wasn't as windy but I needed something to hang the stockings from. Then I noticed the pitch back. Perfect. Even the grass look pretty decent right now.

I was thinking it would be fun to have a stocking give away. I would make a stocking and fill it with fun themed goodies. Then post it on my blog and give it away sometime in November. I was chatting with a few other bloggers and they thought it was a good idea and that it would be fun if a bunch of bloggers got together and we all gave away a stocking and goodies at the same time.  The stocking and goodies can either be handmade or store bought. Anyone interested in a multi-blog give away?

Small Treat Totes

These little guys measure 4" X 4" X 2"

A little something I have been working on this week. These are the Small Treat Totes from the latest issue of Quilts and More. Of course I haven't been able to find the magazine locally yet but luckily All People Quilt has the pattern online.

It's a great little pattern. You use 2 fat quarters and you get 4 little totes.

You use a light fabric and a dark fabric and you end up with 2 versions of each. I love that the handles are ribbons.

Now I need to make some Christmas ones. These bags would be great for handing out candies to those special Trick-or-Treaters that come by. They would also look great sitting on your desk at work filled with candies. I can think of several different uses for these little totes.

(There are only 7 in the photo because my first one came out a bit wonky when I did the top stitching around the top. That one is already being used in the sewing room and I forgot to grab it for the photo shoot)

September is for mice

Over at YOE the theme for September was mouse/mice. My partner this month was Courtney. I went simple this month because I didn't want to over think what my shoulder could handle.

The green birdie thing in the middle is a potholder. I didn't have any mice fabric but mice and birds go together, right? I also crocheted a mousie ornament all dressed for winter. The fuzzy things are knit mice with googly eyes.

New Scarf Pattern

I drafted this crochet pattern a couple years ago. I finally sat down and wrote the pattern up. Pattern writing is a struggle for me. It can be hard to get what's in my head onto paper in a way that other people can understand. I love making fun and colorful scarves and rainbows are something that have always been a favorite of mine.

You can buy the pattern here and here.  I have a few other ideas swimming around in my head. Now to just get them out. It is getting a little crowded in there :)

My slow return to blogging

It feels like forever since I last posted. Since I am still out of work because of my shoulder I have lost track of time. When I am working I keep track of days by counting down to my next day off. Now, I have to keep checking what day it is.

The shoulder is starting to feel pretty good. I still can't do alot of things especially if it is repetitious or I have to use my arm in a certain position. That's part of why as a housekeeper at one of our local hospitals I can't return to work yet. I'm still not using a rotary cutter either. Pushing down and stretching is one of those do not do kind of things. That's OK, I have plenty of things to do. I just need to find the motivation.

I can do some retail therapy though :) I bought these fabrics a bit ago from Barb. She has some gorgeous fabrics in her shop.

Some of these will be for my Samoan Stars quilt...

I think a couple of them will make fun tote bags. Plus, I ordered a handful of zippers. I'm thinking about using the yellow for the setting diamonds for the Samoan Stars. I'll have to wait until I can cut a few strips to see what they look like with the stars.

A Year of Schnibbles Parade

In no particular order, here are the twelve quilts I made as part of The Year of Schnibbles. All of these are quilts except one. The star quilt in the upper right corner is only a flimsy. That is Plan C from last month and I haven't had a chance to turn it into a completed quilt yet.

A BIG THANK YOU

 I've received so many warm email wishes after my surgery. It was very heartwarming. I'm sorry that I can't send individual thank yous to everyone but the shoulder only allows so much typing before it gets agitated. So to everyone....

          THANK YOU !!!!!

      When I arrived at the hospital Monday, this single rose was waiting for me. The surgeon gives these to all of his patients on the day of their surgery. So sweet. He also did something that morning that caught me by surprise. When I went to his office to have the site marked he gave me a kiss on the cheek. I was nervous about the surgery but once he gave me the kiss I instantly relaxed. The kiss caught me off guard and I guess that is why it relaxed me. I left his office with a smile. It's the little things that really matter.

Now for a little tour of the back yard. We have been getting lots of tropical weather lately which means lots and lots of rain. Rain and humidity brings....

...giant mushrooms and foggy camera lenses. The one mushroom in the foreground was 6" across. I say was because Robbie saw them the next day and had fun stomping and kicking them. Boys lol.

The mushrooms were on the right side of the backyard and these flowers are growing wildly on the left side.  They are growing along the neighbor's fence in the empty field out back. They are a soft shade of purple. Very pretty.

There are lots of flowers growing along the back of the fence. We have some very pretty wild flowers down here. I like some of them better than the ones you can purchase. Plus, since they grow wild they are harder to kill ;)

In the same general area is this fruit tree. You can barely see the bird's nest up there. It has been there for a couple years and has been visited by a few different kinds of birds. The last bird I saw using the nest was a Blue-Jay. We see lots of Blue-Jays throughout the year in our backyard.  

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend!!

I survived and a winner

I survived my surgery on Monday. I started my day at the doctor's office at  9 am to get marked for surgery. Our hospital (and probably most hospitals) require that the surgeon mark the surgical site and initial it prior to surgery. Then I was scheduled to be at the hospital by 10:30 am for pre-op procedures. That's where you get to get in the lovely gown and get your IV and repeat the same thing to a handful of people. I am a housekeeper for the pre-op department so I was chatting with the nurses and feeling very relaxed. Surgery was scheduled for 12:30 and I was in the OR at 12:40 so that wasn't too bad. The surgery took about 1.5 hours. Add in a little recovery time and I was home around 3 pm I believe. I spent the past two days sleeping. Between the anesthesia and the pain meds I can't seem to keep my eyes open. That's OK though, it gives the shoulder time to heal and my body needs the rest anyways.

When I woke up in the recovery room I asked the nurse what the doctor found. She told me that there was a partial tear to the rotator cuff. The doctor told Hubby that there were two small bone spurs. I will get all the facts on the 13th when I go in for my follow-up appointment. All I know is that my shoulder is swollen, it hurts, and there are 5 holes with an unknown number of stitches from the surgery.

OK, enough of that boring stuff, on with the winner of the Abby's Treasure Box give a-way!!  Since I am right handed I couldn't comfortably write everyone's names on slips of paper for Robbie to draw so I just had him choose a number from 1-16. With the usual Robbie flair he chose 24. Silly kid lol. See, I knew the kids didn't listen when I talk to them lol. He chose again and this time he chose 16. Congratulations to Quilt Hollow!! I've sent an email asking for your address.

OK, it feels like nap time again. I'll be back in a couple days. Happy Sewing!!!