Just in time for the New Year . . .

I got my last three blocks in my Snow Folks swap ~

This cute little snow mama is from Cathy.

This little gal is the twin of one of the other blocks and she was made by Cynthia.

And this last little funny block was made by Jill.  She had a very sick husband during the time of the swap and I think she didn't quite get this little guy done - but at least she did her best and completed the swap!!  Standing ovation!!!  And I think if I add a few buttons and a couple of facial features he will be quite cute!!

This was really a fun swap with some very, very cute blocks!!  Now to get them all put together in a quilt!!

I Just Learned a New Quilting Trick!!

I was at one of my local quilt shops yesterday and asked if they had the little sand paper dots for our rulers. She said no but that she had heard that there was a bandaid type tape called nexi . . . something that worked real well as it held the ruler good and tight and did not scratch the ruler.

So, when I was at the grocery store I looked in the bandaid isle and found a tape by 3M called Nexcare.  While in the package it did not look like it could hold a ruler up tight to the fabric without slipping and since it was $4.99, I was not too sure about purchasing it.

Well, I did decide to get it and it is WONDERFUL!!  And the roll will last like forever!!

I also put it on my 24" ruler and it works great on that one too!!  Plus, when it stops working I have plenty more!!

And the Winner Is. . . Oh, Wait, the Winners ARE . . .

I received so many lovely comments that I went and searched my stash and found that I had enough goodies for THREE Giveaways!!  Woo!  Hoo!!

So here we go ~

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:63Powered by RANDOM.ORG

The first winner is Robin over at Quilty As Charged

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:16Powered by RANDOM.ORG

The Second winner is Gill from Glouchester, United Kingdom

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:36Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And the third winner is Sue Niven over at I Purr Furr to Craft

Thank you to everyone who left comments!!!  And welcome to all my new followers!!  Wouldn't it be fun if I could have found enough goodies in my stash so all of you could win??

If the winners will email me at akyoung49@yahoo.com I will send your goodies to you!!

Just in the Nick of Time

I got my final gift finished about 15 minutes before we had to leave to go over to Michelle's to open gifts.  It is a quilt for the bed of the American Girl doll that my Great-Niece Lily got for her birthday in October.  At the momement the doll's name is Emma and Michelle thougth that Lily might be more likely to keep this name if Emma's name was on the quilt. So . . . .

Here is the quilt measuring 16" x 20" and below is how Lily will always know that her doll's name is Emma!!

It was fun to make and it's my first "real" quilting I have done on a quilt!!  I think Lily liked it!!  I know her Mom did!  :-)

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2:11

Merry Christmas to all!!

Been Looking for an Excuse for a Give-a-Way . . .

and I found one!!  On December 27th I am officially going to be a senior citizen!!  Yup, it's my birthday and I will be 62 years young!!  So, I thought, what a perfect reason to give a gift!!!  Here is what I gathered up

I think there is something for everyone ~ there is fabric to sew, 1" hexie templates, quilting pins, a quilting eraser, 100% long staple cotton YLI machine quilting thread (lite grey), an Add-A-Quarter ruler for those that love paper-piecing or would like to learn, Trans-Web - the best stuff I have found for machine applique, a long tape measure and CHOCOLATE!!!

To win chances to win this bag of goodies, I would like to have you leave a comment that tells me what you like BEST about the Christmas/Chanukah holidays or what you like LEAST!!

Also, if you want to blog about this give-a-way, you will get an extra chance,

and finally, if you would like to follow my humble little blog I would love it and you will get a third chance to win!!

Good luck to everyone and I will pick a winner on my birthday, December 27th!!  Woo! Hoo!!

Three More Snowmen Have Come to Live at My House

This has been such a fun swap.  I just got three more blocks and they are just as cute as the ones I have already received ~

This one is from Rosa up in Canada.  I have decided that the wind must have blown her hat off because ya know, a hat would be critical up there in Canada!!  But isn't she darling??  I LOVE the polka dots!!

This one is from Cathy who lives down in Florida.  I love the colors, the style and the darling bullseye fabric she used for her snow girl!!!  Such a sweetie!!

And this one is from Bonnie who lives in South Dakota!!  Now there is a state where folks KNOW about snow people and Bonnie's is dressed for the cold!!!  I love the plaid and especially the eyebrows!!

Thanks girls - these are a wonderful addition to my collection!!

It's Been A Hard Week!!

On Sunday at Church we almost lost my Dad!!  Thankfully there were 4 doctors in the house and they got my Dad's pulse up while waiting for the parametics.

We learned on Monday that he has an electrical imbalance in his heart and he opted for a Pacemaker Monday afternoon.  We came home from the hospital Tuesday afternoon.  He had a couple of bad days at home and then this morning he was feeling much better.  He thinks he is going to live and the doctor told him the Pacemaker would give him another 2-10 years!!  Yiks - 10 years would make him 104!!

And then the week ended great when I went out to the mail box this afternoon!!

First, I had won a rug mug giveaway from Donna and Tag over at Brynwood Needleworks!!  I was so excited I could hardly stand it!!  This was the first giveaway I had ever won and it was perfect becasue Donna gave away 2 beautiful hand-crafted mug rugs and the first winner (not me) got her choice and then I got the other one.  Well, lucky, ducky me, the other winner made her choice and left the one I REALLY wanted for me!!

Click on the pictures to see fun quilting on the front and the gorgeous fabric that Donna put on the back side.  Isn't it bee-you-tee-ful!!!

Now, since I am not a coffee or tea drinker, I pondered how best to use this beautiful piece of art and I found a use for it where I can see it for several hours every day ~

Pretty cool, huh!!  Thank you, Donna!  I love, love, love it!!  It is exquisitely made!!!

And that was not all!!

I also got a beautiful and I do mean beautiful hand-crafted card from Mary over at I Piece 2-Mary

The tree is made from a beautiful satin varigated ribbon with gold foil and a gold button star adorning the tree.  I wish you could see this card in person, the picture just does not do it justice.  And inside the card was this darling little ornament ~

that now adorns our cute little Christmas tree ~  Thank you so much for being my friend, Mary - I love the card and the ornament!!

Now wait, thats not all I received!!  I got a wonderful hand-crafted Christmas card  from my sweet friend Shell over at The Raspberry Rabbits.  Along with the card was a sweet note and a beautiful handmade bar of lavender soap.  In the card, Shell said she found this soap just for me at an art show!!  And the soap is so fragrent that I could smell it before I even opened my package!!  Yum!!!  Shell is the daughter I always wanted but was not lucky enough to have until now!!  Thank you, daughter dear - I love you and the kindness of your heart!!

Then, to top it off, I got part of my shipment from Moda with 24 bolts of fabric plus patterns for Barbara Brackman's new Morris and Company quilt.

This fabric is just gorgeous - it's made in Japan and has the finest touch!!  Once I get the other 18 bolts, I am going to put together kits for this quilt for my eBay store and Etsy store.  The work will keep my mind from wandering!!  :-))

It's always comforting to know that even though life is full of trials, Heavenly Father sends His angels in the form of friends to bring joy during the darkest of hours!!

                                                            

One down and Only 12 Left to Go!!

I got my first little Snowman for my Snowman swap completed this afternoon.  When I was looking online for star buttons, I found a polymer clay site and thought it sounded like fun if I made the button from scratch!!  It was fun and hopefully I will get better with time!!  Here he is ~

And, I had a heck of a time finding small enough pieces of coal for the mouth and eyes!!  I think his name is Oscar!!  Ok, back to work!!

P.S.  It's not a good idea to iron over felt - it is REALLY hard on the felt and on your iron!!

Oh My Goodness!! Another Steep Learning Curve!!

I have been saying for months now that I need to learn how to quilt on the mid-arm quilting machine I purchased three years ago.  Well, I finally used it for the first time today and boy oh boy do I ever have a new appreciation for all of you who do free-hand quilting on whatever machine you use!!!

I wanted to practice on a few pieces first before quilting the little mug rug I made and so I tried free motion stippling on a scrap and good thing it was a scrap!!  Oy Vay!!!  Then I tried stitching in the ditch using the free motion and attachment and again - oh boy again!!!

I finally decided to try stitching in the ditch using the regular foot on the machine and that was even more difficult than I had realized it would be!!!

Good thing the first piece I finished is one of the cat quilts for the no-kill animal shelter in Long Beach, Washington because I am thinking that the little kitty that receives this quilt will care less if my ditch stitches are not lying completely in their respective ditches!!!  Whew!!!

I am just thrilled that I finally made that huge leap and completed my very first quilt!!  Woo! Hoo!

Secret Santa Soiree Box Arrived

with goodies in it!!

It included these darling little angel sissors, a spray bottle of Musk perfume and this cute little mouse that is a teenie tiny pincushion!!!  Plus a very sweet card from my Secret Santa!!  Thanks Santa for all my goodies!!

My Very First Rug Mug Turned Out Pretty Darn Cute

if I do say so myself!!  BUT, now I have to figure out how to quilt it!!  I have had a mid-arm quilting machine for about three years and I have been too intimidated to try it out but I am going to give it a try!!

I also got one step further on my little Snowman Swap block!!  Eek, he's starting to look like a Snowman!!  I can see from this picture that he needs to get his hat on a little straighter!!  LOL!!!

And Happy Birthday to my Dad who turned 94 today and is going strong!!!

Next Step on My Snowman Swap

I thought a little texture would make my little guy a bit more fun so I tried out the Texture Magic by Superior Threads that Nedra over at the Cactus Needle loves so much.  And it really is fun!!  A bit of work, but the end result is exactly the touch I was looking for.  Click on the picture for a closer look at the effect the Texture Magic adds to the fabric.

On to the next step.  Today, I am joining Sharon over at Vrooman's Quilts and Barb over at Cat Patches for the "Occupy Your Sewing Room" Movement this week!!!  Come join us!!

Got My November Hexie Flowers Plus Extra Goodies

from Celine in the United Kingdom.  Celine saw on my blog that I am making Kaffe Fassett hexie flowers so she also sent me some Kaffe strips, enough to make 4 flowers from designs I do not have!!

Celine also noticed that I am in the International Siggie Swap and she is too, so she sent me her siggie.  On her blog she mentioned that the reason her siggie has a pram (I think that's United Kingdom English for stroller or baby carriage) on it is because she is expecting her 3rd baby!!  How excitting!!

Well, Jane sent us our December lists so now I am off to make a couple of Siggies for my December recipient!!  This is a great swap!!

Thanks, Celine, I love everything you sent me!!

Snowmen, Snowmen!!

Now that I have my final project almost done, I had some time last night to start working on my Snowman for the snowman swap I am in.  Here is what I have done so far ~

Also, I received another snowman from Carol, who lives down in Florida, so he got a little melted along the way!!

Thank you, Carol - I love this little guy - especially his little red hat!!!

Not Much Quiltin' Going On Because . . .

it is the end of the semester and all my graphic design projects are due this coming Tuesday!!  So, I have been hard at work getting some of them done this week.  I thought I would share this one with you

because it was so much fun to make!!  WARNING - this is NOT a real magazine and the articles are totally the imaginings of ME!!!  But I can hardly believe it - I created this little puppy from scratch!!!  AND it did't take me 900 hours!!  Woo! Hoo!!!