My Postcards for the Carol Doaks Postcard Swap are Done!!

Woo! Hoo!  And boy did I have fun making them.  These are the first postcards I have ever made so I tried all different edges and different post card faces.

Now, all 6 of these postcard fronts may look exactly alike but if you look closely at the diamond piece in the middle you will see that I used a large Kaffe Fassett print and so each triangle is different.

Also, if you look closely, you can also see that I tried different stitches for the edges and finally decided that the one on Nina's postcard is the one I like the best.

I am taking them down to the post office Monday morning so that I can have them hand-cancelled.  And look all the fun stamps I used - a different one for each postcard!!  I hope the recipients like them as much as I do!!

Thank You for Being a Friend!!

Is This the Cutest Thing or What??

Mom, can you come get me down??

Postcard Swap is Due in a Few Days!!

I am feverishly working on my 6 paper-pieced postcards for the Carol Doaks Yahoo group that I belong to as they are due no later than August 15th!!  This has been a really fun swap!!  Here are 4 of the 6 cards I have already received:

This is what the back side of a postcard looks like:

Are they darling or what???  I am hoping that all 6 of my cards go out in the mail by tomorrow!!

Reminder for the 1968 Heirloom Wool Crazy Quilt Giveaway!!!

Drawing is August 15, 2011

See here for more details!!

The Neighbors are Jealous Because We Moved into the Neighborhood

and took all their birds!!  We started out with one little bird feeder under the tree in the front yard.  Then we noticed how many finches were coming to the feeder, so we got a finch sock.  Then we notices all the doves - oh my, we must have 50 doves out there in the early evening just checking out all the bird food droppings that the little birds had dropped out of the feeder during the day.

We noticed a hummingbird and so Regena picked up another hummingbird feeder (we already have one in the backyard) and this morning I walked out to a symphony of bird songs and sights!!

I had no idea there were so many different birds living in the desert.  It's hard to see but there is a yellowed finch at the bottom of the finch sock.

Enjoy your day!!!

Knitted Dish Cloths with Instructions

One of the things I do love about the summer, and no, its not the heat, is that it is baseball season and I am a huge Colorado Rockies fan.  I am sorry to say they are not doing so well this season but they are a great bunch of guys and the game is my fav!!

One thing I can't do is just sit and watch TV so, I always have a project to work on.  Now, it depends on how much I really want to watch what is on that decides what project I am going to work on.  With baseball, I do want to watch it for the most part so my favorite baseball game project is a knitted cotton dish cloth because it is just knitting with a few yarn overs and knit 2 togethers.  Very simple and does not take a lot of thought.

I would imagine that a lot of you knitters already know how to knit this dishcloth and have probably made 100s of them like I have.  But, I thought that new knitters might be interested in getting the pattern for this dish cloth as it is SUPER easy and quite quick!!  They also make wonderful gifts!!

First, you start out with a ball of ""Sugar 'n Cream" by Lily in either solid or variegated.  It is 100% cotton which is most important when making these dishcloths.  You will also need a pair of #8 needles.  The yarn you can get at Michaels, JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby.  Be sure you have your 40% off coupon at JoAnn's or Michaels because they charge way too much for this yarn.  I like Hobby Lobby the best but we don't have one here in St. George.  Boo! Hoo!

Instructions:
With your #8 needles, cast on loosely 3 stitches.
First row, knit 2, yo (yarn over) knit to the end.
Turn needle.  Knit 2 yo knit to the end.

As you can see, the yo increases each row by one.

Continue in this fashion until you have 45 stitches on the needle.

Next row knit 1, knit 2 tog (together) yo, knit 2 tog knit to the end.
Turn needle.  Work previous row until there are three stitches remaining on the needle.  Your dish cloth should start looking like this:

Next row, knit 1, knit 2 together.
Next row knit 2 tog and then you will have one stitch remaining.
Pull this stitch up into a loop and cut off a your yarn with about 6-7 inches hanging.  Pull the end through the loop and tighten.

Take a yarn needle - I prefer the metal ones as they seem to be stronger - and weave the ends through the body of the dish cloth.  Cut off the ends and you are done.

Since I am always making these little guys, I have lots of them!!

But every time I give them as gifts - usually 3 at a time - folks seem to love them!!  And of course, I own enough to change the dish cloth every day, so they never get stale.  Then, after you no longer want them as dish cloths, they make great rags.

Hope you enjoy making these great dish cloths!!

Hmmmmmmm, Moving does Have Some Perks

Several years ago, I bought a ton of fun yarn to make scarves for friends and family.  Well, everyone got their scarf!!  While unpacking boxes from this move, I unearthed this box of goodies.

So, since Regena and decided that we are going to try to get rid of as many extras as we can, we decided we would make all this fun yarn into scarfs and sell them in my little Etsy store.  Here is a peek at my first one.  Regena chose a pink yarn for her first shot!!

Only problem is that it has been so long since I put anything into my Etsy shop, I have forgotten how to do it!!!  Oh, well, off to the drawing board to figure out how to list these scarves!!

Winners of the Ready, Set, Snow Charm Packs

I had so many wonderful comments on this fun Giveaway that I decided giving only one away was just not right - so I decided to give away 3 Charm Packs!!

Congratulations to the Winners:

Mimi from Manitouwadge, Ontario Canada

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: 

Result:

10Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Martha, a Private Blogger

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: 

Result:

20Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Val Laird of Val Laird - Journey of a Stitcher

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: 

Result:

128Powered by RANDOM.ORG

If everyone will email me with your snail mail addresses, I will get your Charm Packs in the mail to you immediately so you can start your Christmas project!!!

I Get to Join The Inchy Hexegon Flower Swap!!

Back in April, I an across the Inchy Hexegon Flower Shop blog and emailed Jane to ask if I could join the swap.  Well, at that time the swap was full but she invited me to join in August.   I had just made my very first hexie in April and I have fallen in love with them!!

Well, Jane asked me in her email if I knew one or two others that would like to join and I told her I would give a shout out to all my blogging buddies and see if any of you want to join the swap!!  If you are interested, email me at akyoung49@yahoo.com and I will get you in touch with Jane!!

Enjoy this wonderful day that we have been given!!

I'm Home and Boy, Can I NOT Count!!

I got home last night and on Friday I wrote that I was going to have a very special giveaway because I was so close to an amazing 20,000 visits.  Well, hello, I am still almost a 1,000 visits away.  Gosh, doesn't 20,000 come right directly after 19,000?  NOT!!

So, since I promised a very special giveaway, I am going to start it right now even though I am a little slow on up-take!!  :-))

This quilt is a gorgeous quilt that was made in 1968 and the top is not only all made from wool but all of the crazy quilt borders and embroidery are all done by hand.  I am not 100% sure but I would imagine that the entire top was hand pieced as well!!  Also, this is not a family heirloom.  I do not know who made it.  My cousin knows I quilt and she saw it and thought I would like it - which I do but . . .

The back is made from a cottony- satiny striped fabric.  And folded over as the binding.  Then the binding has been hand-stitched with a feather stitch over it.

There is one little hole - see picture below but other than that this quilt is in wonderful condition.

Why am I giving it away, you ask??  Even though it is a gorgeous piece of hand work, the colors are just too dark for me and I have kept it folded up in a drawer for the past several years.  So, I thought, I am being very selfish and not sharing this wonderful quilt with the world!!  I think this heirloom needs to belong to someone who really would appreciate it and display it or use it.

I am just asking one thing - please only leave a comment for a chance at this quilt if you REALLY, REALLY want to own it or know someone you can give it to who would REALLY, REALLY like to own it!!

I will be sharing this quilt with one of you on August 15th!!  

Working in Beautiful Colorado Springs, Colorado!!

Monday night a client and dear friend of mine called me and asked if I would come to Colorado Springs (from St. George, UT) to help him get organized with some stuff he and his sweet wife, Genie are going through.  I got a ticket and got here Wednesday afternoon.  After feeding me like a queen and watching the Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves, I got in bed and then started out yesterday morning fast and furious!!

Yesterday was a silver bullet, banner day and now today will be the frustrating day to start the long haul of getting everything organized.

I wanted to take the time to stop in and catch up on all my wonderful blogging friends!!  And to let you know that amazing as it is, my little blog is approaching 20,000 visits!!  Holy cow, who would have ever thought??  Well, in order to celebrate I am going to have a BIG giveaway and I will announce it as soon as I get home next week - not sure which day cuz not sure how long it is going to take to organize all these files.

BUT STAY TUNED AS I THINK A LOT OF YOU WILL WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS NEW GIVEAWAY!!

And thank you all for your kind comments on the The Christmas in July Giveaway that is currently under way!!  I just love this quilting community!!  Enjoy your day!!  And stay cool wherever you might be!!

Boxes are Evaporating Like the Rain in the Desert

Well, the move is coming along swimmingly!!!  Each day both Regena and I are emptying boxes and culling out duplicates or un-needed stuff.  I do have to admit that Regena is much more productive than me!!!  Not sure why, but its true!!  Also, she's a very good cook and if I keep eating like I have this past week I am going to put on a ton of weight!!  Yiks!!

But, here is my current dilemma - I have this kind of ugly built-in brown shelf on the wall where my work space is located and I am just not sure what to do with it.  It goes as high as about 8 inches from the ceiling down to about chest height:

Do I just use it for dolls and critters or is there some way I can utilize it so it is a productive part of my sewing room??  I don't think I can take it down but I might try painting it so it is not quite so brown!!!  This is my big project for the weekend!!!

Have a great weekend wherever you might be!!!  And Pauline, here is a small glimpse of part of my workspace!!!  Hee! Hee!!

Kaaren's Block is Done and Mailed

I got Kaaren's block completed before the big moving process and couldn't find a pigma pen before packing everything up and the I couldn't find the block until yesterday, so I finally got it completed and mailed off this morning!!

The fabric in the middle is a woven fabric and even though I used sandpaper behind to stabilize it, it was still very difficult to write on.  If you want to see other blocks that have been completed and sent to Allie click here.  It sounds like Allie is going to have enough blocks to make three quilts!!  That is a lot of love from blogville!!

Enjoy your day, everyone!!

Christmas in July Giveaway!!

Wow, it has been two weeks since I started the big part of our move.  My Dad and I are now out of the apartment and into the new house.  I have been to Colorado to pick up Regena and we are back and trying to figure out how to get two house fulls of stuff into one house!!

Since I am back I wanted to have a Christmas in July giveaway!!  So, just stop by and say hi with a comment and you can win this charm pack of Moda's Me&My Sister Design's READY, SET, SNOW!!.  And if you are already a follower or become one, just let me know and you will get two chances!!  I will pick a winner July 31st!!

It is good to be back and one of the first rooms I got completed is my sewing room!!!  Oh, yeah!