Gifts

 I like to craft and glue and cut and sew and basically just mess with things. These were sale candles and I bought ribbon and ceramic crosses to fancy them up, the upholstery fabric was from a garage sale box and the fancy beads were once earrings.  I had to clean up some of my mess(there really is no hope) for Kristin to work in my studio this week. It got me to thinking that it's time to give some stuff away so I have more room to create in my space. So maybe that's my New Years resolution.....Give it away.......(oh and I should say also, don't add no more!)

Upcoming kits at work

 I am busy writing instructions for these quilts this week, above is Baby Tumblers. I did the sample out of flannel, oh it's a great floor quilt for a baby.

 Up next is a large baby quilt with cute animals all dressed up for the circus. I put loopy quilting on it and will bind in red.

 The Toy Quilt is a bit smaller with simple stipple quilting and green binding.

 This one and it's green twin are currently living in the front seat of my car........I'm hoping to have them both quilted before work on Wednesday. Kits are packaged up with instructions and just waiting for the samples to be finished.

This is the Twin Tumbler, I made the sample in flannel and the striped binding is so much fun!

  I thought a few new baby quilt kits at work would be kind of fun, nothing better than a quick gift quilt for a sweet baby!

Sara's project

 Sara is getting ready to redo her bedroom. We took some frames and shelves up to the building in town to spray paint. With the floor beams exposed it's easy to lay things on to paint.

 Her color scheme is grey, black, white and yellow with a splash of teal/turquoise.

Room painting will begin this week.............

Meowy Christmas

 I spent the evening trying to take cute pic's of my family, this is what I came up with. Blacky, Una and Snowball.

 Dos Gato showing off her new collar, she wanted to sit on my chest while I tried to take her pic.

 Blacky looks thrilled don't he?

 Sammy hates dressing for Christmas almost as much as Blacky does.

 Josie wore her collar with no problem until Josh told her she looked stupid and kept taking it off her cause he said he felt sorry for her.

 I tried and tried to get pic's of them with their eyes open but every time the flash went off they were quicker than the camera.

 Dos Gato thinks the middle of the tree is her favorite spot .

Laptop bags

 Kristin made laptop bags today. She knew what she wanted but had to make a prototype first. Sooooo the dog print bag is MINE! I now have a bag to carry the laptop I don't have. I'm hoping Kev remembers to bring his home from work so I can use it while I'm at the quilt shop to write up patterns on. The blue one is hers, she wanted something she could wear as a backpack or a messenger bag. The strap will hook thru the ring on the top of the bag to make over the shoulder straps.

 I did a little quilting today also, this is my Mother-in-laws quilt. The back was worn out so I just put muslin on the back and did a large stipple over the whole thing. I think this will extend the life of the quilt and make it usable a bit more.

Oh and Spike wants to say HI everyone and he hopes ya all had a Merry Christmas! (check out that fancy collar his sister made him)

quilts

 Sara and I found these pre-quilted panels at the thrift store a few months ago. She talked me into buying them to finish. (didn't talk to hard) Well I got them bound just before the craft show so we took them along, the Noah's Ark quilt sold. Now we have finished baby quilts to give away for Christmas. I think she has plans to give one to her friends cousin's new baby and the rest to charity.

 I heard on KBRX that the churches in O'Neill are taking donations for Christmas gifts this week to give away the same time as the Mobile Food Pantry on Dec. 18th. Sara and I are thinking it's a good time to donate.

Hot pads

The never ending cycle of hotpads..............teaching more sewers the trick.

Working

 This will be my view for the next few weeks, corn contract to fill. I do have my new car to sit in while the truck fills and fancy steering wheel cover to admire, courtesy of my Mom. She found a tutorial on Moda Bake Shop and tested it on me. My car is dark blue so the cover looks good, she made it reversible also. It's a little slippery so I suggest lining it with shelf liner, ya know, the grippy rubber stuff.......

I also keep some crochet work in the car, never know when I'll be sitting still for a few moments. I've been making potholders, dishcloths and scrubbies for months now.  I've made so many they don't fit in the suitcase I hauled them in to the craft show last week. Look out friends and family, gift giving is near!!!

Anna's house

 I got to spend a little time with Anna awhile back, with her being ADHD she made me help her with this little project, wow, we put two wallhangs together at the same time. I have to admit she did better at it than I did, I'm only ADD so I lost interest and didn't want to finish it......good thing she was there to keep pushing or I would of tossed it. Yeah really....right in the trash.......some of the pieces were smaller than a finger nail, not talking the whole nail, just the part ya clip off when trimming. Oh she did loose interest when I told her how to quilt it...heheheh....I think framed under glass is going to happen.

 Sorry I didn't turn these before posting.

 While watching movies I whipped up Halloween collars for Anna's dogs, Nicki got ruffles and Pokie got a scarf.

Pokey is Nicki and Sammies baby. He is the sweetest pup, when he was a few weeks old he was trying to jump onto the gate and fell, he has brain damage from the fall so they kept him. He's their special boy. He's a lap dog for sure.

Quilters Candy shoppe

 We have been getting ready for Christmas at Quilters Candy Shoppe. I love this little wallhanging, it's so sweet with the candy border fabric.

 This is a Thimbleberries quilt called Plaid. Soon as the sample is retired I'm quilting it and keeping for my living room. My family seems to like anything I put flannel on the back of to snuggle under on the couch (or the Lazy Boy).

 Just a quickie panel quilt with Blue's Clues for a sweet baby..........simple enough to finish before Christmas!

 My watermelon tablerunner needs quilting but I ran out of time........

And last but not least, the easiest tablerunner yet, applique and quilted at the same time snowflakes. Oh and there is lots of these kits.............I got carried away when cutting..........lol.
 

So I guess it looks like I've fallen off the edge of the earth..........nothing to blog about, no pic's to share.....Ok I'm going to get my camera and get moving! I've been a busy girl but no evidence of it around here. A regular reader(coworker) asked when I was going to update my blog...........well for now this is it. Maybe if I commit on here to post more I'll feel compelled to out of guilt. Oh heck it's worth a try.    Off to find my camera............

crochet edge baby blankies

Just a little something I have been working on for Quilters Candy Shoppe. The edges are great with a little fancy around the whole blankie. I just did a simple single crochet on the red/blue and a half double crochet on the light blue.

 Time flies around here in the Fall, hopefully I will remember to post on here once in awhile to let everyone know I'm still alive and trying to quilt!

sick

Well I finally went to the Dr. today, I have sinus infection, it's moving to my ears and lungs. Oh and lets not forget the pinkeye.............ughhhhhh! So after 2 shots and a z-pack plus cold and congestion over the counter pills I should be on the mend soon. No bar work for me, another week of drugs should keep me from spreading my germs to all my lovely customers and hey...maybe they will appreciate me more when I get back? (no I'm sure they will all moan and groan when I return) I've already missed 3 shifts, it's cutting down on my spending money! Well I will just go shop my studio this weekend if I'm feeling well enough to get out of my chair for any length of time, this last week and a half have been awful for energy to do anything. Guess I really was sick.

I did go out to my studio for a few minutes tonight, I got my Christmas Present Wall hang half quilted, I'm going to finish the rest on the regular sewing machine tomorrow. I need to start carrying my camera again to catch my projects and cute dog pic's...oh and kitten pic's. (maybe a kid or two thrown in once in awhile....................)  OK off to bed, I tried really hard today not to nap so I wouldn't want to stay up all night and watch lousy TV. It would be different if I was busy or creating but all I've done is hold down the chair and stare at the tube. Nite.

Josie

How could I of forgotten to mention the newest member of our family? Josie came to live with us in May. I brought her home from Pet Smart and a Sioux City Animal rescue. Met a really nice guy who was her foster dad (forgot his name and lost his e-mail to send update) and he assured me she would be perfect for us. Well he was right, I love her! Not so sure the rest of the family does..........but they are getting used to her. Sammy is jealous of her at times but they seem to be getting along and he even lets her sleep on his pillow next to my bed. Now Josie looks old and they told me she might be 8 or so but aside from long stretches when she gets up in the morning or from naps she acts like a happy puppy. She tolerates my cats, and only had to be punished once to not try to eat my baby chicks. She loves to ride in the pickup(falling out the window only once..........ok sliding out the window over me while I was driving........good thing I was only doing 5mph and had a hold of her till her front paws hit the ground......note; only have windows half way down with dog) she rides in the back seat most of the time unless its just us then she rides "shotgun"or she lets Sammy have the front if he's along.

Tonight it rained for the first time since mid June. Kev, Sara and Brad joined me on the porch to enjoy the storm and Josie sat next to the house under my feet the whole time, even when we sent Sara out to roll up the windows on the truck......twice.........she forgot to turn off the switch and left the lights on. Wow she was soaked but she loved it. They threw rain at each other off the gutters that were overflowing and Brad took the 4-wheeler down the road to turn off the pivots. It was nice to just enjoy the rain together. Now that clothes are changed, showers taken(Brad was covered in mud from the puddles he raced thru) and the house is quiet my Josie is in her usual spot behind the computer chair sleeping.  I wanted another companion dog so Sammy and I wouldn't be alone during the school year days and Josie is great, she even sleeps under the quilting machine and the noise don't bother her a bit.

 I love my rescue dog.....oh and my niece Rylee(5) thinks she's great too!

Summer

Summer is a busy time around here, we've had plans to assemble this T-shirt quilt for two months now.............it's been hot and dry, not feeling like going out to my studio most days. Work is taking up time and I've been sick off and on for a week. (now it's on, my eyes are infected due to sinus and I look like I have pinkeye)
 The garden is producing, so far I have 6 quart and 14 pints of green beans. A batch of sauerkraut in the crock and pickle relish ready to finish up. I also have chokecherry juice in the freezer, it's just to hot outside to heat up the house with jelly making. I need to send someone to check elderberries and sweet corn is on the list too.
 

Post Prom Gifts

Just a pic of the cute post prom gifts The Quilters Candy Shoppe is donating to the local schools. I LOVE the girl set of pillowcases!!!
  Summer is almost here, seems like yesterday we were complaining about the dark days of winter......well more daylight to get stuff done!

Whats keeping me busy

This is what I will be doing this week. I took this pic of my truck from the grain bin. (ok I only climbed the steps half way up, I'm chicken to go higher) I load the truck, drive to town 5 miles, weigh, drive 10 miles to the feed yard, unload, drive home 9 miles, repeat. I kind of like going to the feed yard, they have the cutest cats there and usually kittens to play with. I usually raise the box on the truck so it will dump steady then I go to the building in search of cats............

Busy season

I'm a little shocked that it's been since early March since my last post. I have no excuse for being MIA.
Guess I just didn't have anything important to say or the energy to say it.
  I did get this quilt finished in time for graduation. I like putting together puzzle piece t-shirt quilts. I have a few more to do over the summer and I have help so it should all go smooth.

Heartstring quilts

It's so nice to finally get a few of these quilts put together! The Orchard quilters helped at the last meeting and Sara put together the top quilt shown. I also have back and binding made for them. I am planning on passing some off to the next quilter..............I'm gonna let her add them to the Heartstings database.( oh and let her decide where to donate them too also)