Feeling like a WINNER! :)

whooo hooo! I just received an email from Jo's Country Junction saying that I was the winner for her Ecolux Lighting blog giveaway!! 

 It's a LED strip that attaches to the throat arm of the sewing machine. Yeaaaa!!! Now I'll be able to see much better! Thanks so much Jo for drawing my name!!! :) I can't wait until my mail lady delivers it!

Love from Indiana!

Do you keep Batting Scraps?

I have 4 or 5 small paper bags at the top of the sewing room closet full of folded pieces of scrap batting pieces. You know when you're trimming a quilt after the quilting is done and you're getting ready to apply the binding... I just. can. not. throw out those scraps. What about you?

I typically overlap two pieces just slightly and do a wavy cut with my rotary blade then remove the cuttings and but the fresh edges up against each other and feed thru my machine with a wide zig-zag stitch..... I learned the hard way once that I should always use WHITE thread or cream to match the batting b/c you never know where that area will appear in the quilt and backing areas and you certainly don't want red zig-zag thread showing thru a white patch. :/

But no worries about thread color - or zig-zaging anymore!!!!!!!!!! Have you heard of HEAT Press Batting Together?? Click over to to see a youTube on it - looks awesome doesn't it?

Maybe you have already heard of it, b/c recently Jo's Country Junction posted a review of the product and also Sponsored a Giveaway......and yesterday in my inbox I found an email from Jo announcing I was one of her winners! Weee! :)

Thanks so much Jo's Country Junction!!!!! ;) I can't wait to get it and give it a try!


Love from Texas!

Meet my new "Olivia"

Sorry to have kept everyone waiting - but I was wanting to get things cleared out of the floor a bit before taking a photo of my new "Olivia" Arrow Sewing Cabinet that I won from their facebook fan page.

The sewing room makeover is still in progress but here's a sneak peak.

Those open spots are designed to fit a second machine or serger - neither of which I own. I did buy some stackable baskets that fit in there. However at the time I took the photo, they were downstairs in the dining room binging loaded up of stuff to carry up to the Happy Room.

I couldn't "BEAR" the cabinet looking so empty so I grabbed these guys... Quilt Cut Up Bears that my "Momma Newt" made for me when I was 18. The twin quilt bears have their own special story to tell - but I'll save that for another day.

Take a closer look - my Bernina (aka Bernie) all nestled into his new home.

I even got David to change the light bulb in my machine. I have to confess that I bought it back in August last year when I took Bonnie Hunter's workshop at our guild but had no luck removing the old bulb from fear that it would break off in my hands b/c it was in there so tight... and b/c my machine was cramped up in the bay window of the dining room, I just lived with it rather than have to take a lecture of the husband's complaining of the messy dining room if I asked him to go in there to help.

Thanks to my new "Olivia" things are looking great and I can tell it's gonna help me be more productive in my projects and also bring a lot of peace to our home with everything out of the dining room once and for all!

You wanna know one thing that I really like... the drawers may be too tight for other's liking but for me they're just fine. I have two 3 year olds who I know are gonna be quite nosy once they see the new table with stuff on it. David offered to take them back out and readjust them, but I told him to leave them as is for now :)

The drawer on the left isn't as tight so I didn't put any pins in there. Instead my DMC floss collection and machine quilting gloves. I'm sure it's a lot like a new kitchen - things will get organized and REORGANIZED until I figure out where I best like everything to be. :)

As for photos of the rest of the "Happy Room" you'll just have to wait for now. I still have several more things to carry up from the dining room downstairs but as you can tell from the photo there's no more cutting mat, ruler, or machine or iron in there - so my sewing days in there are OVER. ;)

Nora has several classmates with March and April Birthdays coming up and it's about to break the budget taking her to shop for them. We ran out of wooden dolls that she usually loves to gift so a trip to Joann's was in order to pick up some more. While there I also picked up these fabrics to use for pillow case making.

I'm sure if you've flipped through any quilt magazine in the past few months, you've seen the ads for APQ's 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. "Make a pillowcase. Make a difference."

Have you seen the Missouri Star Tutorial Video on the "Sausage Pillow Case" yet? I watched it for the first time a few weeks ago and thought - I COULD DO THAT! So we're gonna find out soon! :P and if all goes well, we'll be making each of the girls in her class a new COOL "Peace Sign" and flowers pillowcase to wrap up the wooden dolls in and tie with pretty curly ribbons.

I also watched this tutorial youTube video too.

Making a Sausage Pillowcase with Judy

Although her measurements are slightly different, the overall total is the same.... and since I don't have a serger, I love that she shows how to make a french seam! I love the ending where she sighs a big relief when her friends clap for her :P

Stay Tuned...

Love from Texas!

Saturday's Honey Do Project ;)

Remember how I told ya to stay tuned... well it looks like I'm gonna have to keep ya hanging once more b/c while David put together my "Olivia" sewing table this weekend I took photos but the camera battery expired before we were finished! :/

Here are some to share with you while it charges..... Here's proof that I really won the cabinet - the boxes were addressed to "Olivia Facebook Winner" ;)

David reads over the "Olivia" Tech. Pubs. (that is what the engineers called the "Technical Publications aka "direction book" when I worked at EZ-Go Textron years ago) and Olivia ate popcorn and shared some with him...

For most of the time Olivia was the only one in the sewing groom with David... near the end Nora and Paul Thomas came upstairs and quickly found us at work and of course chimed in, "I wanna help! I wanna help!"

It didn't take but seconds for Paul Thomas to gather up his iron and football fabric and pick up his "home work" he calls it and begin testing out the new table while David put together the drawers.

Paul Thomas worked that screw driver as if he'd been using tools all of his life :) and of course Olivia gave the ironing a try too..... the photo of her ironing was the LAST photo taken before the battery expired :( *sigh*

But at least I got a few cute ones to share with you from Saturday when we worked on putting it together.

Yesterday after church we ate out then did some shopping at Target and I picked up a few of these stacking baskets. I'm hoping that they will fit in the open areas of the cabinet. There were only 2 available in the green so I bought them and hope to get 2 more next time I return.

So once again, ....stay tuned! :)

Love from Texas!

Thank you Dana & Amy Ellis!

Do you know Dana from The Old Red Barn Co. I don't really know her either - but she's whatcha call a blogger friend and I also have her as a friend on facebook now. A few years back I found her blog and instantly fell in love.

Her music was so cool that some day's I'd pull up her blog just to hear her song list play as I read email. :P Her photos are awesome - how she ever trained her two beautiful daughters to stare DIRECTLY into the camera is beyond me. I'm lucky if I can even get the front side of my wild ones.

Oh and she also gives great tutorials, and often has giveaways... we're talkin QUILT giveaway for "just because." And my favorite posts are those that include youTube videos of her girls Cloggin! :) I grew up clogging and soooo wish we lived in an area that had cloggers. I'd jump right back into it if I could!

Well - the reason for this post is to THANK DANA for randomly drawing my name in her recent giveaway! Amy Ellis sponsored Modern Basics Blog Tour to celebrate her book release. There's a list of about a dozen blogs giving away a copy... still going on if you hurry!

Wanna chance to win a copy - hurry over to these two blogs and leave a comment for their drawings! Fat Quarterly on March 4th and visit Amylouwho on March 5th

Thanks Dana for drawing - and THANK YOU Amy for Signing my copy! ♥

Love from Texas!

Wishes really do come true!!!

When was the last time you made a WISH? I'm talking about the kind you really, REALLY wish for something and actually have hopes that it will indeed come true..... honestly, I can't really remember the last time I made a real wish either. Although my 6 year old makes these REAL wishes ALL the time... but for someone my age, I guess I'm too practical perhaps.

I'm sure you're more like me, as in often saying yeah, I wish I had.... or I wish we could.... but never really expecting it to happen.

A while back I noticed really bad shoulder pain when sewing at the dining room table with my machine. At first you don't notice it but after long periods of time.... you start to think - I wish my shoulders didn't hurt!!! So after taking along this little nightstand table to the workshop last summer to the guild workshop, when I got it home I tried setting my machine on it to sew... and you know what - it helped! No more tense shoulder pain! ;) ...but on the down side, not a lot of room to sew.

For months I've surfed around the web wishing and dreaming of a sewing cabinet...one that you can fit your machine down into the cabinet. Try not to be jealous, but this has been my sewing station for several months now.... seriously. Cannot even begin to tell you how bug of a pain free motion quilting has been - even with that acrylic plastic attachment...

I've used the dining room table as project table but sewn on this small nightstand above. While surfing and dreaming, I've sent dozens of emails to myself and CC'd the hubby at work - showing him cabinets that would be nice to have "one day" with next to nothing as a reply... *sigh* well even if it's not in the budget it's still fun to dream right? ;)

I almost purchased this... a folding table! Hey, it's not fancy, but the price is affordable! I thought I could recreate the set up I have now in the dining room and move everything upstairs and use it to be my work area and put the yard-sale-find-nightstand this folding table, like I do downstairs in the dining room...? The goal after all is to MOVE OUT of the dining room..... the sooner the better according to hubby!

Well guess what! Recently on facebook - Arrow Sewing Cabinets was promoting their fan page trying to get 1000 fans... earlier they gave away a Gidget II table and reminded fans that once they got to 1,000 they'd be giving away an "Olivia." I'm here today to tell ya that wishes really do come true!

Have you already guessed where I'm headed with this post???

YEP, MY name was randomly chosen
as the winner of the OLIVIA sewing cabinet!!!!!!!

Special thanks to my friend IowaLisa for calling me at home and greeting me with, "Hello is this Bonnie M____? Good morning Bonnie, you obviously do not have your cell phone on you (she had been texting me) nor have you been to your computer yet have you?" Me= "Uammm, no I had to get all the kids ready and take Nora to school this morning since David is working outta town." (looking at my watch - it's only 8:30am) Then she said, "You need to RUN, don't walk, to your computer right now while I'm on the phone with you... I want to hear your reaction." :P

Oh my heavens!!! I could not believe it!!??! Me!?? For Real??? Yes, there was my name in their status line - I about passed out when I read it!!

Arrow Sewing Cabinets

Drum roll please.......Bonnie NXXXXX MXXXX - do you have room at your house for Olivia??? You're our winner!!! Congrats! Please email XXXX@arrowcabinets.com to claim her!

WEEeee! Wishes really do come true!!!!!!!!!! Oh I cannot wait until next Wednesday when Alisha said my Olivia would be delivered!!!

It was a hard decision between the green or the white... and while the green sure would be a fun color - I made the safe choice and went with the white.. After all I think it will go with a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g and I've already made plans to go pick up some paint and paint the far wall in the sewing room.....GREEN! :)

This room has been lacking color since we moved in and I think painting just that back wall will give it what it needs... and if I ever get tired of green, I can go blue, or tan, or _____? :) When I told Nora about my big win and that the cabinet was called "Olivia" she let me know that I was not being a fair mom.... b/c Paul Thomas' favorite color is green ya know! So I think they will all be happy once the make over is complete, don't you? ;) The HAPPY ROOM is going GREEN!

Well it looks like I better get busy getting ready... gotta find a new place for those shirts along the wall.... stay tuned....

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!

Lucky for Santa!

I know by now many of you bloggers have seen this posted on lots of sites... how could you not? Quiltmaker Magazine is hosting a blog hop visiting 10 sites each day and each of the quilters have a featured block in this copy and there are giveaways after giveaways! Each block maker is giving away a free copy and also their block they made... and sometimes other goodies are up for grabs! Lots of prettys to look at! ;)

Well over the weekend, LUCKY me was contacted by Terri over at Whimsicals Threads that she had drawn my day for her Day 4 give away!!! Whooo hoo! I've been hoping to win a copy so that Santa would not have to go hunting and searching for this magazine to put in my stocking on Christmas eve. I even asked her to write on the envelope "do not open until Christmas" ;) so that I don't accidentally open it when it comes in the mail.

Good luck to all my fellow readers on winning their own copy too! There are still lots of chances!

Follow the 100 Blocks Blog Tour daily Nov. 9-13 at quiltmaker.com/quiltypleasures for inspiration, ideas and giveaways galore!