drive thru = stitchin time

These photos were taken about a week ago - sorry I'm late in blogging about it.

Maybe for most people when they pull into McD's and see this car on the right - they'd get mad ... b/c they are pulling out and going the wrong way making it hard for people like me to get to the looooong drive thru line...

but not for me! b/c long drive thru line = more stitchin time!!! ;)

and I love sticking the camera up over my shoulder to see what I can capture... lookie here at these sweet little piggies of Olivia's! :) I even caught Paul Thomas spying on me...

Can you believe this was the only brown I had in my collection???

Good thing we ate in the car on the way home, b/c the twins fell asleep soon after their last bite. Which meant that I got to sit and stitch for a while while they napped! ;)

the "winter friend snowman" printed out on the paper (in the back on the table) I got from Sunshine Yellow's blog - she shared a FREE stitchery - click over to her blog to see her adorable pillow!

and the Cute Christmas Tree was a FREE stitchery designed by Andrea Zuill over at her blog where she offers a free pattern every month. Her designs are also what are in the hoop - her Christmas Embroidery Pattern Set

and I've not printed them yet - but I do plan to print out these FREE cute little angels (9 to a page) and stitch them up too!


Love from Texas!

Are you done with your Christmas Lights??

Last weekend David and Nora put out our "rainbow" lights in the shrubs in front of the house. While I cheated and put up the small 3' tree inside. Just about the time I was finished with the lights (((only 2 strands - can you believe it?))) Nora rang the door bell to come in b/c her hands were freezing cold. Perfect timing to help me with ornaments!

and although she remembered all of "her" ornaments - the ones she earned with each of her potty sticker carts - she did not remember that we had once had this same tree in her bedroom 2 years ago. We skipped putting it up in her room last year b/c of the twins - they love playing in there between bath time and bed time and we just knew they'd knock it over.

and this year b/c we are going home to KY for Christmas... leaving on the 18th - it just didn't make sense to me to put up the big tree (that usually has over 2000 lights) and then have to deal with it after we get back from our vacation... you know just one more thing... so we "cheated" and put up the small one in the front room (living room /computer room.)

We keep this room gated off majority of the time - can't have two 2 year olds banging on the keyboard or climbing around on the desk or worse... did you notice the TV sitting on the floor??? it use to sit on a small table right there to the left of the huge computer desk/bookshelf... (cable is on that wall) but b/c of the twins.. we had to remove the table b/c we didn't want them to turn it over on themselves.

But what I really menat to ask was - for those of you who participated in the Quiltmaker Magazine Bonnie Hunter mystery - are you done yet with your Christmas Lights Quilt top???

If so Margaret Gunn who quilted mine is open for taking more bookings for this pattern... she wrote:

If you know of anyone else that did this mystery quilt and still needs it quilted, please send them my way. I'd love to quilt it for them!

Love from Texas!

Whoot! Whoot!! Guess who won some Market LOOT!?

Rachel over at p.s. i quilt had a giveaway and today she announced the winners! and I'm one of them! :)

I don't know for sure what is on the way but I'm sure I will love it b/c she was giving away some of the things she picked up at Market... or rather Quilt Festival in Houston ... but you knew what I meant :)

Now I'm gonna be good and not look and stick it in my Christmas stocking... I've already ordered a few things from Day Style Designs shop - uham, rather "Santa" ordered them.. and I did not open the 100 Quilt Blocks magazine from Quiltmaker that I won a few weeks ago and have been avoiding the magazine racks in stores so that I'm not tempted to look - that will go in there too. ;)

This is sooooo not like me b/c growin up I was the kid who unwrapped presents and looked inside while my mom and dad were over at the barn stripping "tabacka" or if you are real country "backer"

And my gift box from Kathy... I'm gonna share with you the stuff inside during the 12 days of Christmas.. ;) So stay tuned.


Love from Texas!

Do not try this at home

Remember that big ole bar of Hershey's chocolate that was on top of my special gift box.... well I started on it and have been nibbling on it for the past 2 days and tonight lookie at what I discovered.

I repeat - do NOT try this at home...

...well if you do - don't say I didn't warn ya!

Oh how I'll be in BIG trouble if the GOOD Lord ever blesses me with another baby - b/c for me to keep away morning sickness I keep a jar of Jiff and a spoon with me at all times - yep I took it to work, had it at home and kept a jar in my car, in my purse... it is the only thing I know of that takes away morning sickness feeling.... and now that I know how good it is on top of chocolate...... oh MY!

AGAIN, do NOT attempt this - or at least if you do - do NOT blame ME for any weight GAIN! :P

Love from Texas!

Snow!!

School was let out early for Nora today - b/c the weather man said we would be getting sleet and snow! And that is exactly what it did... first starting out sleeting and within minutes it was SNOWING!

BIG BIG FLAKES!!! In SE Texas no less!! Can you believe it?

Here is one of the fist flakes that hit me... This is the 2nd snow here in our parts in the last 20 years. Two years in a row!

Fast and Furious flakes! WOW!

I was just sure when I took the photo of our home - it was gonna be a "before" shot and later on - maybe even tomorrow take a 2nd of a blanket of snow on the lawn...

but nope.. by the time David got home it had already stopped snowing....

Doesn't look like Nora will get to build a snowman :P LOL

Although she did try to catch a few flakes on her tongue and in her hands.

and take a look at her coat - double click to make the photo larger... don't you just love that quilting on it??? My mother-in-law bought it for her last year and I la,la,LOVED it! :)

Love from Texas!

All I want for Christmas Box is here!

I guess it's the "mom in me" that won't allow myself to have any fun until my chores are taken care of, completed and done... well that is never gonna happen - but I'm at least trying to wait until we have our Christmas Tree set up and lights outside... then I'll reward myself with....

THIS!

What is this, you ask??? Well it's a box full of goodies hand selected just for little ole me... from a secret special someone!! - see each year over on the HGTV boards they have annual secret sisters and such - I've never done that swap before... and I think it was last year was the first time they did one called "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS" where the coordinator, holee, posed questions for everyone to talk about themselves and answer and then she made catagories... and took sign-ups and assigned partners...

Again I did not participate and barely even knew it was going on... the letter on top was the first thing I saw and read... oh how nice! ;)

Kathy aka Shawkl decided to be my secret sponsor and asked holee to email me and ask me the questions and then forward on to her... I was shocked to think anyone would want to do this for little ole me???? who could it be I wondered???? Never would I have thought it to be one of the 8 FQ Bingo Winners from last year...

and I know Kathy is sitting on the edge of her seat to hear back from me - but this is all the looking I've done so far... opened it up and here is a peak inside...

Oh LOOKIE here! CHOCOLATE!!!

A very BIG bar of Hershey's!!! I'm pretty sure she meant for me to eat this immediately since it's not gift wrapped! :P So I'll take it out now and start enjoying some of it!

Oh my heavens does she know what I love or what!!!??!?! :)

Now that the weekend is here we plan to put up our Christmas tree. Last weekend, Nora and I purged through old toys from the front room (the home's living room that we use as computer room and toy box room) and filled up a big laundry hamper of things to take and donate to the church - they've just started having a nursery during the 10:30 Mass. Which we love! ;) Finally I can hear the readings and actually get something from Father Tom's Homilies.

Anyway - have a great weekend everyone - and check back here on Monday for more photos of what's inside my Special Box! ;)

binding tutorial ... sortof

Well last post I told you about how I spent a weekend morning out on the driveway bent over on all fours pinning on my binding... :P I forgot to mention that I did manage to get it sewn on too! Actually I was saving it for another post b/c while sewing I remembered to have the camera near by as I worked.

This is not a "real" tutorial but I thought I'd share some tips with you on how I do it.

I'm not sure at what point I noticed the thread.... but it was getting low - very low....

When I'm sewing and nearing the corner, I take out one of the pins and reposition it at an angle like shown in the photo below. Now I know exactly where to stop with my needle down so that I am only 1/4" away form the edge.

Then I stop and lift the presser foot and pivot around so that I'm headed directly towards the corner and then just before sewing remove that pin and sew out to the corner and then cut the thread.

Can you see what I just did? Not sure if I'm wording this the correct way...

and because I have already pressed with a hot iron the folded corners before I got started, the press crease is still there and the binding almost falls into place all by itself! ;)

Next, you fold it back down then put back at the machine... I start about 1/2" from the edge and back-stitch all the way to the edge then come forward.

oh holy smokes, I'm really getting low on my thread!

and this is something I just recently learned!!! I read over on Magnolia Bay Quilts' blog how she uses the Fons & Porter triangle trimmers for joining her binding strips and "CLICK" it made sence to me too! and now I can easily follow her directions and no more marking for when I join strips - but what about that final joining of edges for a smooth finish that you cant' tell where you started and stopped on a quilt... humm... Can I make it work for that to? Why YES I can! ;)

see that piece of light fabric in the photo above? on the cutting mat??? I just used a leftover scrap of binding to create myself a "HELPER" :) and am I ever so glad I did! Now the next time I need to bind, I won't have to go texting my friend jayardi asking her do I add 1/4" or subtract 1/4"??? b/c it seems so far in between finishes that I forget everything I know! :P

See, my little "HELPER" even has a seam in it and I can fold it to know exactly which piece needs to be face side down or up! Isn't that nifty?? ;)

ready to sew! ;) and I took some close ups so you could see where I used a pigma pen to write my notes on it... I think you can click on the photos to make larger.

had to word it "straight" cut as in up and down and not at an angle... you know b/c 100 years form now when I need my "HELPER" again I might forget what I meant.

I even drew out a little diagram of how that Red F&P triangle trimmer sat on the fabric - so next time there'll be no second guessing ... I can just look, line up the same and cut!

did I mention I was running low on thread!!! EEK! This is what I saw as I turned my last corner!!!

and Ta-Da!!! perfect line up! :)

As for thread... do you think it will be enough??

Can you see how far I have left to go -with just a few inches left!!! I started holding my breath at this point....

then I paused sewing to take another photo when I noticed it was off the spool and hanging down before it worked it's way to the tension disks..... do you see it?? look near the end of my rotary cutter! Yikes!

and believe it or not -I made it! WHEW!

With just about 18" left after I back stitched and came to my stopping point. I didn't bother trimming it off! I'll just keep it there and when I'm ready to sit down and hand stitch it down to the back side, I'll clip it off and thread it to use. ;)

as for what I'll use after that - well I'm hoping my black DMC floss will work (single thread at a time) b/c I do NOT want to make a trip to Walmart for thread!! not with two 2 year olds in this rainy cold weather! :P

Love from Texas!

It's here!! Christmas Lights Photos

As promised here are the photos of my quilt after quilting....... sorry I've been keeping you waiting for photos. My fault. sorry.

The box arrived last Tuesday however last week was crazy - starting on Monday with both of the twins being sick. Paul Thomas had a few episodes of diarrhea, while Olivia ran fever all day and night and vomited half a dozen times :( Thankfully I had a big store bought quilt near by all day for her to vomit into and just tossed it into the washer b/c there would have been no way to make it to the potty each time. It was a horrible day for all 3 of us last Monday. Poor babies!

We went to the doctor Tuesday with Olivia and found out that she had a big infection in her thumb that she sucks. You can read more about all that over at our family blog. Thankfully now she is doing better and it's healing.

Anyway - back to the quilt!!! ;) This is what it looked like when I opened it up Tuesday night. It was folded up with love can't you tell? ;) Oh lookie there are my handsome snowmen just as excited to see me as I am them!!

The next few photos I took the following day outside on the driveway. Notice anything about that strip on the backing? Mmm-hmm... a mistake.

And you know what??? I knew about it the day I sewed the backing together. I was in a hurry that day to get it to the mailbox place on time and as I was sewing the 2nd snowman piece on (THE FINAL SEAM) I noticed that a part of the zig-zag was turned around backwards...

and as I noticed it I told myself, "You know what Bonnie, this quilt is called "Christmas Lights" and this my dear, is one on the back side is a stubborn strand of tangled Christmas Lights! And right now, it's just not worth the time to untangle it! :P So box it up and mail it as is already!"

Margaret Gunn over at Quilts Of Love was the one who I sent it to for quilting after I read about her special offer for introductory offer ;) and I upgraded for a low upgrading charge of $20 more and got lots of fancy feathery quilting for the borders and boy oh boy it looks wonderful!

The next 2 photos I copied from her flickr page that she took of the quilt when she gave me a sneak peak :) I didn't get around to getting the quilt trimmed and squared up until Saturday this weekend. Would you believe it was in the mid 70's here and I was back outside on the drive way in my PJ's on all fours pinning on the binding. :P Wonder if any neighbors saw me?

I'm so happy with it, and although I've not shown it to David since quilting - he's seen it along the way as I've been working on it. I know he's going to love it when he opens it up on Christmas. So that means that I'll have to work on it during the day while he's at work and the twins are napping b/c it's TOO BIG to work on behind the steering wheel while I wait in the carpool line at Nora's school. :P

Love from Texas!

Lots of goodies up for grabs

Spun Sugar Quilts - Mid-Ohio Quilter is celebrating her 405th blog post and has lots of goodies up for grabs! I'm already drooling over the idea of winning some of her 1930's FQs and she hasn't even drawn my name yet! ;) You have until 12/5 until the drawing - but hurry up b/c December is just around the corner!

Love from Texas!

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving

I saw this photo posted on a friends blog and loved it! The egg baskets remind me of my mother. She and I along with my grandmother, Momma Newt, took a basket weaving class once when I was about 10 or 11 and for about 2 years my mother made lots of egg baskets just like these - same sizes and color which she dyed herself using a mixture of walnuts and sometimes tea to stain them.

For Easter that year she gave all of her nieces and nephews their very own egg basket to use. I wonder if anyone still has theirs?

I however did not get one for Easter that year, as I had made my own in our basket weaving class... but of the few larger egg baskets around the house I knew that one day one of them would be passed down to me. When Momma Newt died, I did get the one that she had made in our class. For it was her first, only and last ever basket to make.... quilts were her specialty. ;)

I know Barry, my oldest brother, has one of the egg baskets that mom and I worked on weaving together - I did the fancy work on the handle and around the main band for her since that part was easier for my smaller hands. It was the prettiest basket that we ever made - lots of details.

I wish I had a photo of it as it really turned out beautiful and Momma was so very proud of it. Now some 20 years later - As a mother myself I can see why... being proud of your child and the sentimental value of something we made together... sorta like a mother's love woven into her child. ;) If she were still around I think I'd pick up the phone and call her and ask her if she still remembers when... and I'm sure she'd say yes.

Just wanted to share a little something with you. When I saw this pic it reminded me of those times. ;) and for good memories I am thankful! Hope you and yours have a very Happy Thanksgiving!


Love from Texas!