How I spent my Christmas

Remember back in grade school when you returned from Christmas break or Summer vacation you had to write a report on what you did over break? I was never very fond of that.

Earlier this month I took these piles of fabric...

...ran them through this...

...and ended up with a bunch of these and...

...some of these strings to add to my string collection. The red, white, and blue strings will be used to make some QOV blocks.

I took all the squares and put them together into this DNP lap quilt for a friend that recently was married. I was going back and forth on what design to use and what fabric until I came to this one. I wanted something that wasn't girly and would make a nice statement on the back of their couch.  They said they wanted something bright and colorful because their house is whites and creams. I think this should add a bit of color. I have a bunch of squares left over for another project too. Plus plenty more for the QOV string blocks.

Look who I found

We have been so busy lately that I never posted about Mandy making it home.

Suzi was waiting very patiently for Sissy to arrive home. She sat on her bed to make sure she didn't miss her lol.

When we arrived home from the airport we saw this turtle in the neighbor's yard. Not sure where he came from or where he was going but he was cruising right along happily. You can tell it is has been dry here lately. Everyone's lawns pretty much look like this. We have year round water regulations so there isn't alot of watering going on. This neighbor actually runs his sprinklers a few days a week (based on the rules)  and it still isn't enough. At least we don't have to mow 2 or 3 times a week in the winter.

A quick stop at home and then off to Grandma's to surprise her. Mandy told all the local family that she was arriving on Saturday even though her plane landed Friday mid morning.  How do you like my curtain on the front door? When I had an actual curtain up there it would constantly get knocked down either by us or the wind. Put up a drab pillowcase and it never falls lol. I think I will pick up a set of those magnetic curtain rods and put up a pretty curtain again and hope for the best.

These pictures were all taken in Pine Island at Grandma's.  Grandma is my step mother and she now lives at my Grandparents trailer. My Grandparents lived there forever. I think they bought the place in the late 70's and lived there year round since 1981 or 1982 until they both passed away a few years back. After my Father passed away it was rented out for a bit until a few months ago when my step mother decided to move out there. She has done an amazing job fixing the place up. It looks so homey again.

She lives out there with my Dad's dog Jack, her new pup from one of my Sister's dogs litter and two cats. Jack likes to bring you one of his stuffed toys so you can pet the toy and him. When he was in his prime he used to chase cars up and down the road. He went to doggie jail once for chasing a cop car and biting the bumper lol. Now he just likes to lay outside and scratch his tummy on the grass.

I think Mandy likes the pup though. Won't get too much bigger than this.

Remember wherever you are, Mandy will be keeping an eye on you!

The Day After

We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you all did too. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and all the kids were home. This will be the last year we are all together for a bit so I enjoyed having everyone under one roof....most of the time lol.

After a cup of water was spilled on the tree skirt, the tree was moved to the corner of the living room. Notice my catch all book case? Who needs a junk drawer when you have a whole shelving unit? This year I let Robbie play Santa and stack all the presents under the tree. Of course most of the things the kids asked for were movies and video games. They were stacked way under the tree in the back. Of course those were the first things everyone wanted to unwrap.

Mandy doesn't like unwrapping gifts so she had Suzi help her out again this year. That dog loves to tear paper!


Last month I won a chocolate Holiday house kit from Pam's blog. If you haven't been to visit her blog before I highly recommend stopping in for a visit. She has some amazing things to share, fun crafts and yummy recipes too.

I was going to let Robbie use the house as an Advent calendar but thought maybe Mandy would enjoy decorating it. So I kept it all boxed up until she came home. Of course she had no interest in decorating it. I let Robbie have all the fun and he had a blast.

My chocolate monster :)

Suzi sat there with him the whole time hoping he would drop something for her to steal. Silly dog, she just doesn't seem to understand that chocolate isn't good for doggies. Robbie snacked enough while making the house that he didn't even want to try a bite when he was done.

Thanks for the afternoon of fun Pam!


p.s. All three kids did enjoy decorating a gingerbread house on Christmas day though. They each decorated pieces of the house but never put them together. They are eating them like cookies :)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day with friends and family.

Free Patterns

HomeSpun Threads is offering all their patterns for free right now. I don't know how long this will be available. The only thing they request is that you follow their blog and pass the word.

Barb's Neighborhood

Earlier this year Barb convinced a few of us to join her in a Row Robin swap. I recently finished the last row on Barb's quilt.

Barb made the top row of houses. She also sent along the blue and green fabric that you see we all used in our rows. Barb used it in her row as the sky and grass.

I decided to make a row of flowers. There was one large piece of blue fabric that was just the right length for the background of my row. Perfect! I used the green as one of the stems and the leaf  in each flower pot.

I fused my pieces to the background and then hand appliqued everything down using floss and the buttonhole stitch. I wanted the flowers to have some dimension so I made yo-yos for the centers.

This was a fun quilt along. Thanks Barb and all the ladies that worked on my rows. I can't wait to see my rows and get them sewn together into a cozy quilt!

Apple core die

I wasn't planning on buying anymore dies for my Go! cutter but after buying the 30's repro fabric I just had to pick up this apple core die.

I was thinking of mixing in some white and pastel-ish fabric with the 30's and making at least a baby size apple core quilt. I will also be cutting up some of my scraps for an apple core quilt or table runner.

3X6 Bee 4th Quarter

These are the blocks I came up with for the fourth quarter of the 3X6 Bee. I waited until almost the last minute to work on these. I just couldn't pick a block design. I think before the next round starts in January, I better order a bunch of aqua fabric. My stash is seriously lacking aquas and everyone seems to want that color. After seeing the blocks that everyone has been making in aqua and red, I actually chose those colors for next year too.

Mug Rug Received

Aunt Pitty Pat recently held a mug rug swap over on her blog. I received my package this past weekend. My partner was Leslie but I'm not sure if she has a blog.

Here are all the goodies. I was so surprised and pleased to see the sequin ornament inside the coffee mug. My Grandmother and I used to make ornaments like that back in the 70's. I have a couple dozen that Grandma passed down to me before she died.

I love the mug rug. I really enjoy when the quilting outlines the applique. Then you have this nice shadow on the back.

The mug is cute! Santa and his reindeer are Texas Armadillos. Thanks Leslie!

Oh Deer Oh Deer

This November's theme over at YOE was reindeer. My partner was Sherry this time. Sherry send some wonderful things.

The most important lol. The boys were quick to fight over this. Of course Momma won and it is still sitting on my TV table FULL. Ha! Take that boys.

Aren't these cards precious? I would love to make handmade cards but I really don't need a new hobby.

These guys look like they were made from scrapbooking paper.

I LOVE things with jingle bells.

These are wooden ornaments. I was looking for something like these at a craft store but didn't see any.

Reindeer and Christmas lights. Love the fuzzy nose and eyelashes.

Matchbox ornaments. More jingle bells :0)

and a cute little deer inside.

Thanks Sherry!!

And the winners are.....

When I do a give away I (actually Hubby) like to draw names/numbers from a hat (bowl actually but hat sounds better). It feels more personal and I think that the lower numbers have a better chance of being drawn than if I used the random number thingie.

First prize goes to...

Brittainy Barnes said... 27

Awww what a fun idea!! I've been wanting to work on some Christmas stuff, but work and school and baby have all gotten the best of me!! Thanks again!

Now Brittainy doesn't have to worry about making a stocking this year. She can concentrate on that baby. Brittainy, you can thank my son Robbie because he chose your number.

Sunny,  who was also giving away a stocking, was chosen as the second stocking winner. Sunny was the first commenter so that goes to show you that even comment number one can be a winner. 

and last but not least....

Zlaty wins the snowman stocking! Rob and I are firm believers of what goes around comes around. I won a give away that Zlaty was having a couple month's back. She was giving away a kit for her new pattern Candy table runner.

Congratulations to all the winners here and on the other blogs that were giving away a stocking! I plan on giving away another stocking next year. It was lots of fun deciding on what stocking to give away and what to fill them with.

The winners have 3 days to get their addresses to me. If I don't hear from the winners after 3 days I will redraw for new winners.

New scarf patterns in the mail

***Today's the last day to toss your name in the hat for the stocking(s) give away. You can find the post over here. You can also visit these blogs for a chance at their stockings:


Quilting Dreams
Tangos Treasures

Jane's fabric and quilting

Gingerbread snowflakes

Cloth to creation

Quilting dreams

I recently ordered some new patterns for crocheted novelty scarves. I picked these up from Crochet Village over on Etsy.

I love cute scarves. I bought this pack because of Santa Clause and the mittens.

I love all of these.

I think the penguins in this pack are cute. I received permission from Crochet Village to sell the finished scarves in my shop. If there is one that you would like to own, let me know and I can make one up for you.

Look at all these other cuties I saw in their shop! I just might need to place another order for these guys.