HAPPY HALLOWEEN

HAVE A SAFE, FUN HOLIDAY!

Holiday Fun AND a DECISION!

Home for the Holidays Quilt Designer Blog Hop and Cookie Swap! 

Another wonderful blog hop full of holiday projects and cookie recipes. I set up a separate page -see right side of sidebar- with links to the fab designers participating in the Hop/Swap! and giving you their special days! Come join in the fun!

 
Mistletoe Make & Bake 2010

This is the Holiday Blog Hop I mentioned in my previous post. I moved the links to the super designers who are participating, along with their days to a separate page on my blog. Come join the fun!  

Like Chocolate We Need Lots of Cookies!

As Well As Holiday Projects (Fabric, of course)! 

And, now my Decision!  

The Decision! was made in the one hour I am allotted for lunch, which is a first for me. I went to Quilting By the Bay, Panama City, FL determined to pick my fabric for The Layer Cake Quilt Along sponsored by Moose on the Porch starting November 1.  I found a lovely kit for a beautiful quilt ... perfect colors for what I wanted ... but there were lots more fat quarters than I needed.  I thought if the yardage fabric is sufficient for the sashing I needed, I will purchase and use the additional fat quarters for another project. My friendly, helpful sales associate carefully checked the yardage. Not enough! Bah!

The great news was Quilting By the Bay had a whole shelf of the FAB fat quarters, which I had totally missed until kindly directed to by the friendly associate. In minutes I had the 12 fat quarters required plus a great sashing fabric. I paid and was back at work in my allotted hour! WooHoo!

The DECISION! was Eden by Lila Turner. Beautiful - light, bright. I'm in love! And Complementary by Bella Lu Studio makes the perfect sashing. I will get to the border and backing at a later date. For now progress has been made. Let the Quilt Along begin!  I am ready!

Did I forget to mention I now know how to add pages to my blog! Two firsts in one day!

HAPPY QUILTING TO ALL!

Mistletoe Make and Bake 2010

Sherri of This and That Patterns is sponsoring Mistletoe Make and Bake 2010, a Holiday Blog Hop, November 15-20. I copied her list of participating designers and their special days. You can find this list on my sidebar. Please hop on over to This and That Patterns to get all the exciting details. This sounds like FUN to me. See you there.

Nature's Colors & a Layer Cake Quilt Along

These are photos of the sky were taken just outside my front door.  It is dusk and somewhat overcast, however, I love the colors.  The blue, purple gray and green with shots of a silvery white would make a fantastic quilt fabric. Add in the beautiful two toned green in the tropical plant against the reddish brick and ... well, my bedroom needs a make over!  I love the colors. Happy quilting!

I have decided to participate in my first quilt along. Moose on the Porch is sponsoring a layer cake (or I can use 12 fat quarters) quilt along. I am going to give it a try. The first block is to be released November 2, 2010 with a new block coming every two weeks until April (I believe-follow the their blog button on my sidebar should you want more details). I'm a bit uncertain about not knowing what the completed project is supposed to look like. This will a leap of faith requiring me to lighten up and go with the flow. Speaking of lightening up, I do think I want something like bright springy blues, greens, purples, pinks ... perhaps a bit of yellow and definitely a fair amount of white. Of course, my next project will be committing to the fabric. I am going with quilt shop quality. Quilting by the Bay in Panama City will just have to adjust to my "decision" process. (ha!) They are a wonderful group of helpful, supportive, creative folks. I expect they will offer wonderful suggestions. Wish me luck!

The weekend has been on a "cool" side for Florida.  At least one could stand to be outside and the breeze has been wonderful. From the look of the sky, tomorrow will bring rain. Hope all of you enjoyed your weekend. Until next time.

Green Fairy Quilts

Great giveaway at Green Fairy Quilts.  Tell them I sent you. Happy quilting!

Blogger Help & a Busy Day

Check out the blogger buddy button on my sidebar. Karen at Sew Many Ways is offering blogger help and hints. Her recent post was wonderful with detailed instructions, including pictures. I can see myself using the information frequently. Hop on over and take a look.

My day was jammed full of work. There have been some recently organizational changes at the office, which involved shifting of duties. We are still sorting out the functions and working around the learning curve(s). We will get there!

Happy quilting to all!

"Glens Quilt" by Khris of Sew Prim Khris

My Friend, Khris, made a beautiful quilt from Bonnie Hunters first mystery quilt. She named it “Glens Quilt” because she gave it to Glen, her hubby.  The quilt is absolutely lovely.  Please head over to the Quilting Gallery and take a good look - fantastic "eye candy!"  Take all the time you want to admire.  Then note this is a voting event.  Your vote for “Glens Quilt” would be greatly appreciated.  Enjoy!  And, while you are at it please check out Khris' blog Sew Prim Khris.

http://quiltinggallery.com/2010/10/15/vote-now-scrappy-again-quilts/- look for "Glens Quilt"

Frogs Rule & The Great Mouse Hunt

FROGS RULE!  Check out the really cool fabric I found at Hobby Lobby.  The colors are perfect to finish up the Christmas quilts for my nieces.  I love the colors.







I just shipped my FRIENDS Swap package to Australia.  I hope my partner, Leanne, enjoys the contents as much as I enjoyed picking them out.  International shipping rates came as a bit of a shock!  However, the cost was well worth the fun I had with this swap.

And, now the Great Mouse Hunt ...... 

One would think the mouse was alive from the intensity of this hunt.

Happy quilting to all!  And congratulations to the many winners of the Fall Into Fall Giveaway.  Simply visiting the wonderful blog sites was super fun to me.

Back to Work

All I wanted to do this morning was sleep in. I dreaded going back to work - figured my desk would be stacked to the ceiling. And, to my surprise it wasn't .... wish I had a penny for every minute I spend worrying about what never happened. If I did, I wouldn't have to work (ha!)

Table Runners, FRIENDS Swap and Christmas

This is the back side of the top of a table runner under way. I had to take a picture. The seams bunted just right and everything went together without use of the seam ripper! And the finished size measured correctly according to the wonderful skill building book "Quilters Academy - Vol. 1" by Harriett & Carrie Hargrave. Love that book.  I haven't posted the practice pieces, however, I am studiously working through the lessons in the book. The process has been rewarding.

On to the table runner. All I have so far is the top. I think it is turning off fairly well. This is a Christmas gift for a dear friends, who loves birds and gardening. I believe she will enjoy this.

The funny thing is I lost on of the 5" blocks just before I was ready to start sewing them together. It fell or blew right off the table when I turned my head away to take a sip of coffee.

Oh, look Cha Cha found it! Isn't she a brilliant cat? 

This "incident" was approximately 5 minutes after she came out from hiding under the bed. Earlier this morning I ran to the store - wasn't gone long.  Miss Cat must have figured I was finally gone for the day. She's less than thrilled with me taking time off from work. I cramp her day time activities. Back to the story - I guess she failed to hear the car drive up because she was playing in the dried beans soaking in the pan sitting in the kitchen sink. My "What are you doing?" sent her streaking down the hall to hide under the bed, where she stayed for quite some time. The little darling came out just to help me sew! Sweet kitty!

This picture is the Christmas table runner I have been working on.  It is narrow to fit the table it is being made for. I had to stop because the border fabric I purchased is way too busy. I am thinking it is going to need a fairly solid muted green.  Hmm, I am thinking with a different border fabric this may become a fall table topper rather than a Christmas table topper. Food for thought anyway.

My FRIENDS Swap goodies are close to ready to ship to Australia. Just a few loose ends to tie up. The swap has been loads of fun! I'm thinking I will probably do it again!

I have spend days blog hopping to the over 130 blogs participating in the Fall Into Fall Giveaway. I've greatly enjoyed the journey, have added a few new blogs to my regular reading list and put my name in the pot for some wonderful giveaways. If you haven't checked it out, I recommend you get busy. Just click the button on my sidebar to be "magically" directed to the fun.

Well, that's it for today. I have sewing to finish before I have to go back to work tomorrow. Not to mention my house could use a bit of cleaning. Until next time .... Happy Quilting!

Christmas

Started a Christmas project today. This is the beginning of a table runner. I did not get much done - had several not so great starts, which required the use of a seam ripper. Ughh! All of you bloggers make this quilting look so easy. I find myself thinking oh yes, I can do that! I am finding the doing a bit more complicated than my thinking. But Rome was not built in a day!

I kept hoping the local quilt shop would have a new quilters class. They have been telling me to check back in the fall; however, although the weather remains Hot in Florida, it is October. No class has been listed. So, I purchased the Quilters Academy by Harriet Hargrave and Carrie Hargrave. I am told it is a great skill building - learning to quilt book. I intend to start on page one and do the projects in order.  I have been pleased so far with the few projects I have worked on; however, I know I have lots to learn. I'm also thinking I need to go take a picture taking class! The colors are much richer in the above than they appear on the screen.

Anyway ... I am having a grand time learning a new skill! Happy quilting!

Nine Patch & Strip Quilt

Here is a section of the crazy nine patch quilt I am making for a favorite niece.  She loves yellow and bright colors. Then for the younger sister - same color scheme - she hasn't really expressed color preference. The child is much too busy!

The colors are not coming out in their true intensity in my pictures. I need a design wall ... somewhere down the road.

And, I have been so busy the last few weeks.

I have been scrambling to complete my gift selection for a F R I E N D S swap I am involved in. I have had loads of fun and am very glad I decided to participate.

Remember to check out the Fall Into Fall blog hop which started Friday, 10/1/10.  You can click the button the my sidebar and be off and running. There are 140+ blog owners and several companies participating. Each site is holding a special giveaway. All the winners will be selected the 15th, so you have two weeks to visit each and every blog.

Two additional exciting blog hops are happening right now.  Fall-O-Ween has 10 wonderful designers who are sharing some fantastic projects. There will be a grand prize winner once the blog hop is over. Also, Pat Sloan is  sponsoring a blog hop. Grand prize is a complete set of her new rulers - the ones that sharpen your rotary cutter while cutting. Blog buttons for both of these hops are on my side bar. Get busy and check it all out.

More later. Happy quilting and blog hopping.