Is It January 15th Yet??

Because look what came in the mail today ~

from Shell over at The Rasberry Rabbits!!

Everything I need for her new 2012 Raspberry Rabbits BOM featuring her darling design assistants, Harrington and Hannah!!  So, I am aready for the big unveiling of month one on Janaury 15th!!

If you would like to play, you can click on the button here and see whats going on. This is going to be a fun and very different BOM because Shell is using a wool applique technique that she invented!!

Then, the mailman also brought me a box from Amazon with my

book for the Quiltalong that is being hosted by Donna over at Brynwood Needleworks.  This Quiltalong starts February 1st!!  Check it out, it is going to be lots of fun!!

And then finally, in order to get free shipping I HAD to order a second book and for those of you that keep a close eye on me, you know that Kaffe Fasssett is my VERY most favorite designer and so I got his newest book

Now, even though the quilt on the cover is not my favorite, there are some amazing quilts in this book that are quintessential Kaffe!!

Oh, this new year is turning out to be extra, extra special!!

First Project of the Year Started!! Woo! Hoo!!

It seems like it is always hard for me to get started on a project but once I finally do, I just dive in and love it!!

I just started the Quiltalong "Just Takes 2" presented by Gay over at Sentimental Stitches and Brenda over at Dear Jane.  It's a year long project where we will recieve 2 sections of the quilt from the two websites each month.  The quilt is set up to be a red and white quilt but many of the participants are doing their own thing.

Here are my first 2 of 6 blocks that we received January 1st.  I decided to do my applique work by machine as that is my favorite but I also noticed as I finished the block on the left that the red thread in the white fabric will compliment the red work that can be part of some of the blocks.  The red work is optional and I opted to add it.

You can click on the button below to see what others are doing

This is going to be a fun, fun project!!

A New Flimsie is Going to Be a Gift.

I don't have health insurance and so whenever I can I get a massage and call that my health insurance.  Pretty good excuse, huh??

Well, the guy that we have been going to is a very nice man and he truly has healing hands.  Paying for his services is not really a true way of saying thank you, so I decided to make a quilt that he could use on his table.  That way, everyone that gets a massage can say thank you too.

His entire office is in earth tones - ya, know, nice and soothing and medatative.  So, I thought I would pull my batiks out and make a nice earth tone quilt.

Ok, ok, so what one would normally call earth tones it is not, but I do see the sky and the ocean and the pink clouds of a spectacular sunset, the red rocks around St. George, the spring green of grass, the gold in the autumn leaves and so much more.  Anyway, I am going to back it in a dull color so if he really wants muted he can use the back side!!!  Hope he likes it!!

New International Siggies to Start Out the New Year!!

I am finally catching up on some of the siggies I have received over the past few months.  My Siggies to them are going out tomorrow morning when the post office opens again ~

This one is from Gea Lamberts.  Gea is from the Netherlands and she sent a very nice note with her Siggie but it is in a different language so I am not sure what she said - I did get "Hallo Kris" though!!  :-)

This one is from Jose Brouwer.  Jose is also from the Netherlands.  I apparently sent her friend two of mine - which is unusaul because I seem to have a hard time getting one out - and so the friend gave mine to Jose and Jose was kind enough to send me one of hers!!  Donna over at Brynwood Needleworks  would love this one as it has the acorns on it.

Oh, I wish you could see this amazing siggie in person!!  It was made by Ali Maria Bruna in Italy and she has done something with the orange color in the face and hands that makes it three dimensional!!  It is incredible!!  Ali just joined the list a few days before she sent me this fun Siggie - I hope she can keep up this beautiful work becasue as soon as folks see how incredible her Siggie is, they are going to want to swap with her!!

This little cutie was made by Petra van Opzeeland, who also lives in the Netherlands.  The cool thing is that Petra is only 37 years old!!  How neat that there are more and more young people who are carrying on the wonderful art of quilting!!  And, she has already been quilting for 15 years!!!

This one is from Simonetta Troian, who lives in Italy.  She lives in a cottage by the sea in a small town in northern Italy.  The little bone is sewn on.

This last one is from Celine Combet.  I actually got this one from Celine when she sent me two beautiful Hexie Flowers, as I was her partner for November in the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap.  The reason she put a "pram" on the front is because at the time she sent the package, she was pregnant.  As of Christmas night, she is the new Mom of a darling little girl, which you can see on Celine's blog Espritpatch.

Thank you ladies, I love the addition of all your Siggies to my collection!!

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!