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Saturday, February 28, 2009

for my friend KC1930

KC, the box looks little, but don't let that fool ya - there is actually a lot in it! Take a look.
and here's a close up of those strings hanging over the chair. They are all noodles... and are the width of the fabric... about 44" long. ;) A good variety don't ya think?
My friend KC1930 and I are planning a little exchange of our own and these photos are posted for her to take a look at. ;)

Love from Texas!

Last Call for Minis!


POTLUCK/Make-up Mini 9 Patch Swap Details can be found here. Several readers asked me about joining a while back and to each of you I emailed back with the details... I have not head back yet from any of them... but just wanted to make sure you knew about it if you are still interested. ;) Click on the above link to take you to the swap discussion over on the HGTV Quilter's Message Board.
Looking back at last year's on going Quarterly Swap:

Round 1 - 36 participants sent in 187 blue sets & 166 brown sets = 3530 minis

Round 2 - 31 participants sent in 168 red sets & 151 orange sets = 3190 minis

Round 3 - 24 participants sent in 179 green sets = 1790 minis

Round 4 - 18 participants sent in 112 purple sets & 104 yellow sets = 2160 minis

Total mini blocks swapped for the year = 10,670 minis!!!

TEN THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED, SEVENTY BLOCKS!!!

We had a very successful swap, and I am so lucky to have such great swappers to work with! Thanks everyone! ;)
and here are the ones that get to stay here and live with me - until they grow up to become something beautiful! ;)


Love from Texas!

Guess What I got to work on yesterday and today...

Two days straight, I've got to spend a lot of time in here... our dining room which I've taken over with my sewing ;) while the babies watch Sesame Street and their other favorite shows in the morning.

Can you guess what I've been up to?
Can't tell?????

I'll give you another little hint...


Yesterday I was on a roll with my CYOC string blocks. Sewing, sewing, sewing... and today I got to trim them all up ;) ....and I must say, these little gals sure do look sharp! My favorite so far - I saved the best for last.... all the swappers who requested 1930's prints :)

I completed 16 blocks with red centers, 4 blocks with purple centers and 4 with white centers for me.

I figured I'd work on blocks for me while I fed the others thru... making sure that I got to use some of my favorite 30's prints in my blocks too. I've learned from my early days of hosting that if I save mine for the last, then I come up short...either literally or end up with the repeats in a swap.... so after about 3 swaps of this, I learned to include mine in with the rest and work on them at the same time ;) and since then haven't had any problems.
I'm reallying having fun with these... and only have 2 more swappers' sets to go. I hope to get them completed over the weekend so I can mail them all off at the same time on Monday.
Happy Weekend everyone and Love from Texas!

Friday, February 27, 2009

I don't remember the last time

There are two things I don't remember the last time really... #1, that I felt like I looked good wearing my PJs (photo above) but since my surgery I do ;) I really like this sleep shirt now...it's super soft and that is the only reason I never got rid of it. Now I actually like the way it fits too!
and the second thing I don't remember.... #2, was the last time I cleaned out my purse. How about you?

It's been forevah ago that I carried a purse every day eveywhere. Since becoming a mom, I've been carrying a diaper bag instead. there was a short time period that Nora was potty trained and before the twins arrived that I didn't have to carry a diaper bag.. but usually anywhere we went David was with us and so b/c he had his wallet on him I didn't carry a purse.

However lately I'm finding myself reattached to my purse! :) and no the twins have not potty trained yet, they are still in diapers - and we continue to take the diaperbag with us everywhere... or rather David carries it everywehre ;) so I can bring along my purse. ;)
I've had this ole thing since before Nora was born. It is the only Vera Bradley purse I own. I do have several travel pieces that are "knock offs." A handful of them I bought at the grcery store on a sale promotion. We use this blue one that I got from the Dollar Store for just $5.00 to take along the babies' food. It's colorful and easy to spot on the restaurant table when I glance back to see if we left anything behind ;) Plus I love that it's washable!
So now that I'm back to carrying my treasured "bandanna purse" as David calls it - I noticed today that it was in a MAJOR need of cleaning out! I don't remember the last time I dumped everything out and really gave it a good going over...


I should have gotten a "before" photo looking into it while messy- b/c before, you couldn't even see the pockets MUCHLESS what was in them!

Love from Texas!

Neutral Nickels YUM!

Nickels and more Nickels! For round 1 of the year we had the choice of neutrals or patriotic or both.

This time around, I focused on just swapping the neutrals. Actually "both Nora" and I swapped 10 sets each ;)

White on Whites, Cream on Creams, some greys.... and the best part? I shopped my stash!

I already have more than one project in mind to use them in. Blocks that I'll be swapping soon with my friend Crazy'boutquilts and also another project I saw recently on the cover of this magazine.
BeanyMalone over on the HGTV board is the hostess of the nickels. This year instead of swapping monthly she's cut it back to quarterly but doing more than one color at a time. The next swap is for Reds Blues and Yellows = Due by the end of March.
So far there are over a dozen swappers in each color group so that is good. The more people that play along = eliminates duplicates being sent back.. or a lot of your own ;) at least that was what I remember from when I hosted my swaps ;)
I know I'm in for the reds and blues for sure! maybe the yellows depending on what I find when I go shop my stash. Here are a few more photos of mine and Nora's neutrals.


and wasn't this a sweet gift that BeanyMalone included for me? I love that carousal horse FQ ;)


NOTE - these were due at the end of January and I received them just before Valentine's Day (a GREAT turnaround time) I'm just now getting time to write up my post. For a week now blogger hasn't been allowing me to upload photos. Thankfully tonight I'm getting to catch up! ;)

Love from Texas!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

I cleaned up my act and guest room

I had planned to post this before my family arrived.. but forgot about it.

Anyway I thought I'd go ahead and pot it and share with you my room. I love the big sewing areas I see around blog land. So since others share their mess, why not show you mine? ;)

This photo to the right was taken BEFORE my parent's visit before my surgery. What you see amongst all the mess is our 4th bedroom. The guest room / sewing room. (Although the dining room downstairs has also become the sewing room since the twins arrived)

The door to this room stays shut all the time to keep the kids out and if David saw it like this he would freak out. He already gives me so much grief over the dining room every day and night. It doesn't help that the dining room in in the center of the home and we pass by it a million times and that it doesn't have a door to close...I'm pretty sure if it did, he wouldn't remind me of my mess so often ;)

So back to the guest room...I did manage to get it all cleaned up and tidy before my Dad & Clara came for their visit. :)

I even spent a whole Friday afternoon while Diane (the Deacon's Daughter) came after school to watch the kids, cleaning OUT the closet in that room. I threw away 3 boxes of OLD fabric and I'm talking OLD.

These were taken the day that Dad and Clara arrived before they got here ;) Doesn't this view from the door look much more inviting than the previous photo?
and directly across from the bed is the custom shelves that the previous home owner left. They didn't have any helpers to help them move these two pieces down the stairs....lucky us :) To everyone else in the world it looks junked up, but to me it looks nice and neat. The middle section is a bulletin board and I've tacked things up in no particular order. There are also two lights in the middle section and when my sewing machine is in this room that is where I sit it. I don't love sewing up so close to a wall... but it works. and ooooogh look at the cutting table so neat and tidy! Once in the past when my dad came he just simply took his forearm and pushed all my fabric/projects to the back and cleared off a spot for his suitcase so he wouldn't have to bend over to get things out of it... I held my breath and smiled... "oh it's OK" but really I wanted to say... now you've mixed everything up! Now that won't happen this visit b/c I know he likes to put his suitcase up here so I've made room.

Doesn't the dresser top look a little neater too? I'm not gonna give any details to how much dust was on top of that thing! LOL
and remember that closet I told you I cleaned out? Here is a look into it. I have two skinny plastic containers and probably have room on that shelf for two more. NOTE TO SELF - plan to buy two more next time Joann's has their storage containers on 50% off sale.

and below is after you step inside the closet and look to the left. See all those large pieces? Most of those were bought during a Joann's relocation sale or Hancock's going out of business sales... both of which there was a 2 yard minimum.
The big basket use to sit on top of the dresser by cutting table... but it was such an eye sore that I made room for all of it in the closet. It holds a lot of my flannel pieces, used for making my famous "Bonnie Blankets" aka Timberland Throws... which I still have not forgotten about posting that tutorial I promised ages ago...

Also, while showing you this room, I'll add that I've always wanted to paint it but it's one of those things that David and I just can't manage to make the time to do. Perhaps on my Dad & Clara's next visit we'll break out the brushes.

I tried to search for interior paint colors to show you the shade of purple I'd like to paint... and this banner below was about all I could find to copy and paste into this post. Actually I'd like a little darker - more of a plum shade. The botanical bedspread has a purple in it and I think it would be nice.



I really like the next to last colors on both the left and the right the best. They remind me of the wall we had at the furniture store I once worked at.

However green is suppose to be calming... and I want my guest to feel calm while sleeping in there... so maybe a sage green? but so much of the downstairs is already Sage green. The kitchen and Dining Room...

There are a lot more varieties of green to choose from in the paint stores.. and this comforter has several different shades... but I've always wanted a plum purple since I worked at Ashley Furniture Homestore and we had a bedroom in purple.



Of course this isn't something at the top of my "To Do" list. I'll be lucky if any room is painted before this time next year! As it's nearly impossible with 3 small kids at home. We painted Nora's bedroom before we moved into this home. Well we were here sleeping on air mattresses until our furniture arrived.... and it was easy to put her pack-n-play bed in another room and paint on her bedroom during the night. She was only 11 months old at the time.

I do think I'll mention a painting spree idea with my Dad and Clara for their project to help with for their next visit... maybe they'll be up for babysitting kids for us while we work. I've had the bathroom paint colors for over a year and have yet to paint the kids bathroom... and also wallpaper boarder and a green paint for the bottom half of the wall for Nora's bedroom... again, had it for over a year. *sigh*
Guess I'll quilt dreaming now and get back to sewing! ;) which leads me... downstairs to the Dining room.... now that's another room waiting to be cleaned up! This photo doesn't show the half of it!

Love from Texas!