Saturday's Smile!!

My darling little friend Tag over at Brynwood Needleworks

Saturday's Smile!!

Just Plugging Along!!

I have had a chance to work on my Bunny BEARS needlepoint ~

I found a great green for the wide border and I think it is going to be perfect.  Plus, I got all the little flowers done!!

I also got a bunch of the mystery charms made into 9-patches ~

They are pretty wild, so I am not sure what to do with them yet.  I might cut them into vanishing 9-patches or make snowball blocks to alternate with the 9-patches.  Janet O. over at Rogue Quilter made that fun suggestion.  I have so many 9-patches that I may be able to make 2 quilts.

Some of the mystery blocks were the same, so I made a seperate top from them.  It is about 28" x 28" and so I was thinking I would put flannel on the back and turn it into a diaper changing pad.

Next, I got my November Inchy Flower Hexagons done for  Cathy C.  She wanted light to medium pinks, purples, blues and mauves with yellow centers ~

And then I received my December flowers from Paula O. in Australia ~

They are fabulous and they will go great in my garden!!  So nice to be getting some things worked on !!

Saturday's Smile!!

Tonight Was Quilt Guild

and it is just amazing how wonderful the Row-a-Long Challenge is going!!  This month I got to do Judy B's and each month it gets harder and harder to figure something out because all the previous rows are so fabulous!1

Here is the row I did for Judy's quilt ~

And here is how her quilt is coming along!!

We still have February through April so they are going to be wonderful.  I can't wait to show you mine in April!!

Slow Sunday Stitchin'

My little antique needlepoint is moving right along - slowly, very slowly!!

I like the color blue, but it is not one of my first choices, so I tried a limey green for that blue border - see the little section on the bottom right corner.  I love that it is green, but I think it needs to be a darker green, so I am going out tomorrow to see exchange it with a green that has more pop!!

Also, I was scrunging around in a closet in my basement and came across this pile of charms.  I have NO idea how old they are and really have NO idea what I was going to do with them as there is no rhyme or reason to the fabric selection.  Hmmmm, something very scrappy perhaps!!

Hope you all had a lovely Sunday!!

Saturday's Smile!!

September & October Flowers On Their Way . . .

tomorrow morning to Beverly K. in Oklahoma City, OK for September.

Beverly wanted blue and white with yellow centers!!  These were really fun to make!!

And October Flowers to Anne-Lise in Denmark ~

Anne-Lise said she din't have a preference and that anything was welcome.  So, of course, I made her some bright Kaffe Flowers with green polka-dot centers!!

Playing Major Catch-up

You know how sometimes doing something just isn't fun anymore - sometimes because it is something you have to do and other times it is because you have done it so many times, it is no longer fun.

Well, that is how I have been for the past 6 months with making my hexie flowers for the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap.  But I am making amends and I completed two August flowers for Joke R. ~

I hope she likes them as they are on their way to The Netherlands tomorrow morning!  She wanted light-colored, solid centers so she can embroider the sender's name and date there.  Tonight I am starting my September flowers and will have them all done through Janauary by the end of the month!!

Ok, So I Am Doing Spring Cleaning . . .

early, looking for UFOs to complete.  And I found the perfect one to start working on again!!

I bought this little cutie in Corona del Mar, California in the early to mid 1970s.  Yup, you read right!!  This little guy is  40+ years old!!  This might be my oldest UFO, but I am not sure!!  I have lots of closets and bins to go through!!

The piece measures around 6" x 6" and I am using DMC Perle Cotton No. 5.  You can see how old it is by how crackily the masking tape is around the edges!!  I did some Slow Sunday Stitching on it yesterday and worked on the little basket tonight, but at this point, it takes a long time to see any progress.

Do you think I should frame this when I am done or turn it into a little pillow?

UPDATE ~

And I have to laugh, many of the comments mentioned counted cross stitch!!  This project is so old most of you may not even remember needlepoint!!  This one is needlepoint, not counted cross stitch.  Although you will see lots of those come through while cleaning out and and finishing up!  :-))

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I looked up to see if the shop is still there in Corona del Mar and wow!!  It is ~

So good to know some things just don't change!!  Except, I would imagine the owners have changed!!  :-)

First New Year's Resolution Already Realized!!

Yup, one of my main resolutions for 2015 was to learn to hand quilt.  Sew, on New Year's day afternoon, Janet O. over at Rogue Quilter invited me out to see her home with all her wonderful Christmas decorations (before she took them down) and to teach me to hand quilt!!  Oh, yeah!!

Here is my first try at hand quilting ~

I hope you can see the stitches

Janet, said I was doing pretty good for a beginner and it was okay that my stitches were as big as they were because the new trend in hand quilting is larger stitches, but just be sure to be consistent in the length.  Wasn't that a sweet way of saying my stitches were not so small?

We had a really nice chat and then when it was about time to go, Janet gave me this darling little handmade ornament from her collection ~

and said I was her best student of the day, and I am sure her favorite New Year's day student!!  :-))  She let me take home the hoop, basting pins and the needle so I could finish at home.

Then yesterday, I went out shopping to get my own supplies so I could give Janet her things back.  

And did I hit the jackpot!!  Everything I got was 50% off at JoAnn's plus an additional 15% off on my entire purchase!!  Oh, except the John James needles - I got those at my LQS because JoAnn's only had the lesser expensive needles and my quilting teacher said to get good needles so they would last longer!!  I AM SO EXCITED!!

THANKS, JANET, YOU ARE A FUN TEACHER!!

Then another one of my resolutions and this is a big one, is to try not to start anything new this year but to finish up all my UFOs including knitting UFOs (one of them is over 40 years old), crocheting UFOs and embroidery UFOs.

This is my first finish of the year and it was a late Christmas gift for some dear friends who are making a patriotic wall in their dining area ~

I put a hanger on the back so they could hang it in a prominent place on their new wall!!

Hey, hey, hey!!  I am on a roll and it is only 3 days into the new year!!

Happy New Year and Birthday Giveaway Winners!!

Internet Image

And now for the winners of my Birthday Giveaway!!

The winner of the Mini Charm Packs - Kathy M over at Quilting Along the Gorge!!

The winner of the Quilting Pins - Chriska over at Stash Bee

The winner of the Quilting Needles is Vicki - no blog

The winner of the pattern is no one - but if you are interested, I would love to send this pattern to you!!  Just email me!!

The winner of the Aurifil thread is Sandie over at Crazy 'Bout Quilts

Congratulations to each of the winners!!

And thank you so much for all of you that left me such great birthday 
wishes and why turning 65 is so much fun!!