Happy Halloween

I found this at http://www.extremepumpkins.com isn't it funny??? There are a few friends that come to mind when I see this image... LOL!

We went to a pumkin patch Sunday after church and carved a pumpkin that evening. Nora was so facinated by it all and she kept saying, "I wuuuvvvv orange pumkins Mommy! "I wuuuvvvv orange pumkins Mommy!" it was so cute!! :c) I tried to get her to feel the pulp and help me with cleaning it out but she would have no part of it! She didn't want to get messy. Tonight, when her pumpkin is lighted I will take a photo to share with you. Happy Halloween Everyone!!! Be safe! ~Bonnie

Quilting Meme

Today I was checking out some of my favorite blogs and found this on Nancy's Blog.

I haven't done as many of these - yet - but many are on my "to do one day" list ;c) I will have more items to bold one day! How many have you done?

Have You Ever?
1. Taken a quilting class
2. Paper pieced
3. Hand quilted
4. Hand pieced
5. Created your own pattern
6. Published a pattern in a magazine or book
7. Gone on a quilting retreat
8. Gone to a quilting convention 1st time last fall in Houston for a day :c)
9. Met someone who wrote a quilting book
10 combined your quilting with some other craft
11. Done any three dimensional quilting - like fabric origami
12. Made something using Thimbleberries fabric
13. Made something using batiks I have something started does that count?
14. Dyed your own fabric
15. Made a landscape hanging
16 Made a New York Beauty quilt
17 Made a baby quilt
18 Made a wall hanging
19 Made a journal quilt
20 Submitted your journal quilt for viewing
21 Made a fabric postcard
22 Made a artistic trading card (ATC)
23 Exchanged artistic trading cards
24. Mailed your own postcard
25. Made a lap quilt
26 Made a twin size quilt
27 Made a full size quilt
28 Made a queen size quilt
29 Made a king size quilt
30 Donated a quilt to charity one of the best feelings!
31 Sent a quilt out to a quilter
32 Thrown away a UFO
33 Given away a UFO
34 Cut up a UFO and made something else with it
35 Ripped fabric instead of cutting it all of my boarders are ripped.
36 Made a quilt exactly like the pattern, with no changes whatsoever
37 Done any Sashiko
38 Quilted your own quilt
39 Did free motion quilting
40 Put any embroidery or beads on your quilt
41 Given away your quilt to a stranger
42 Swapped fabric - I'm addicted to swapping fabrics!
43 swapped blocks - love swapping blocks too!
44 participated in a round robin - currently participating in one from HGTV.com quilting forum
45 participated in an ostridge round robin
46 kept a journal about your quilting
47 written a letter to someone who made an antique quilt
49 kept a blog about your quilting - that is my intention anyway
50 participated in a gift exchange
51 sent a quilting random act of kindness
52 joined a newsgroup about quilting - there are 8 groups I read
53 made a quilt using a pattern from quilterscache - love that site!
54 joined an online block of the month - joined and then dropped out
55 made a block of the month quilt - doing this with my LQS this year it is gonna be beautiful!
56 subscribed to a fabric of the month club
57 bought fabric at an online store
58 bought fabric from eBay
59 own more than one sewing machine
60 have a room dedicated solely to sewing
61 hide a fabric purchase - have been known to do this before
62 finished making a holiday gift before July
63 spent more than $200 in one quilt shopping trip
64 made a quilt using a book from the library
65 worked with someone else to make a quilt - this is "sew" fun to do!!! :c)
66. joined a quilt guild
67 become president of a quilt guild
68 taught a quilting class
69 helped someone else get the quilting bug - hehehehehe!
70 taught a child to sew
71 made a Dear Jane block
72 Made a miniature quilt
73 watch QNN - quilters news network - I even have a notebook I keep by the computer for taking notes... I call it my online classes! LOL
73 subscribe to a quilting magazine from your own country
74 subscribe to a quilting magazine from another country
75 buy fabric from another country
76 swapped completed quilts with someone else
77 asked for quilting help online - the HGTV quilting forum is wonderful for this!
78 gone to a quilt shop to ask for quilting help - when I am stumped on a Round Robin ;c)
79 bought fabric at a local quilt shop
80 traveled more than 100 miles to go to a quilt shop
81 used nontraditional fabric for a quilt - something other than cotton or flannel
82 made a quilt using instructions given to you on a blog - yes! I followed along on JudyL's instructions for Leaf Season
83 make comments on someone's quilting blog -not as often as I would like, trying to comment more :c)
84 meet a quilter in person after only having talked online
85 had a quilting retreat in your home
86 own quilting software
87 made a quilt you designed on your quilting software
88 done any quilt research - history, interviewing quilters, etc.
89 had any quilt related subject published anywhere
90 donated a quilt to a museum
91 bought a quilt from a thrift store
92 made a quilt using fabric from a thrift store - not done yet, but in the works, I have been purchasing men's shirts for the last few weeks on Monday's when they are only $0.50 each at the Goodwill ;-)
93 made a quilt using photos
94 made a pastel quilt
95 made a quilt using brights - Bento Box for charity
96 made a quilt using ethnic fabric from another country - African, Asian, etc.
97 made a quilt using leftover blocks from other quilts
98 had your quilt in a magazine, newspaper, newsletter, TV, etc.
99. submitted your quilt to a quilt show
100. won any ribbons with your quilts
101 had more finished quilts than UFOs
102 made a quilt using reproduction fabrics my BOM from the LQS is using 1930's :c)
103 took a break from quilting that was longer than a year
104 made money with your quilting
105 had a job in the fabric / quilting industry


I so wish I could bold #101 - and hope to be able to one day. I am still fairly new to quilting and must admit I start more than I finish. Why is that??? Today I have been reading a lot on the Stashbuster list in the topic "What will happen to your stash and UFO's when you die??" and it has made for some interesting conversation. I hope that is not something I have to worry about for many years to come as I am jut in my early 30's - but I guess I need to be more neat in keeping my projects together with the printed instructions in some sort of Rubbermaid boxes for "just in case". Also it may help me be more productive and save time in keeping them straight and organized.... perhaps I will buy 10 boxes and only allow myself to start a new quilt project if I empty one of the current boxes...

I haven't posted in a while - eek! and I know how I feel when I revisit my favorite blogs and see nothing new... it makes me wish I could call them up and say post something - I miss reading about your life!!! LOL I haven’t' really had much to post about.

I have not made any noticable progress on Leaf Season, since I last posted about it -I did make some orange leaves to go along with the ones I had already - still need some brown and pruple ones... who knows when that will get done. :(

However, I have been busy sewing on other stuff. I was recruited by a friend to help out her mother (who is not a garment sewer but NOT a quilter) to help out with a project for their ladies at church. I don't know all the details, but something to do with the ladies at church receiving quilt blocks as rewards of their service and things they accomplish during the year. The original coordinator of the project moved out of state and left it all up in the air. My friend's mom was asked to selvedge the project b/c the ladies really were looking forward to receiving the blocks.... so last week they shared with me a little about it - asking for help on how to more than anything... and after riding over to Ms. Kole's home to take a look I offered to help.

Each of the ladies at church will get a total of 12 blocks - 4 blocks of 3 patterns. It will be up to each of them to set together at the end of the year themselves. I took the fabric for the hardest of the three blocks home with me and have been working on them. Over the weekend I cut out all the pieces and have gotten to the point that all the units are sewn - they are at the 9 patch phase - just have to set those together. I don't have any photos to share, I need to get the camera charged and take some. They are turning out pretty, but I can't help think are these poor blocks ever going to make it into finished quilts if they are being made for people who do not sew or quilt??? At least I am doing a good dead for a friend's mom. My friend has done so much for me in the past year, it is the least I can do to help them out in this situation.

I Have Done...

OK - this is gonna be my "Fun Friday" Post - what I have done.. I found it off of Shelina's Blog while I was surfing around. Perhaps you have seen this already? Nora didn't take a nap today so gotta keep it short and sweet - maybe more later on tonight when she is in bed... Happy Weekend! ~Bonnie

I Have Done
Consider yourself tagged if you want to give it a go. All you do is copy and paste, then bold all the things you have done.

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
9. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

I wonder if the person who made up this survey had actually done all these things. Some of these things seem like they would be interesting to do. Others, I would have no interest in doing. Probably would be interesting to come up with 150 things I have done. Someday....

Fun Time Friday

Well today, for "Fun Friday", Nora and I went to the park after the post office this morning. I wanted to do something fun for her since she didn't get to go to playgroup yesterday. My eyes are still bothering me from having the PINK eye (very sore still) - so I didn't risk going to playgroup.

Earlier this week I talked with Dad on the phone (he's in Kentucky) and he told me about the cool weather they have been having - highs in the low 50's and lows in the 30's!!! It was hard to believe that it is so cold there and all week our highs here have been in the mid 80's. Well, today the high was only 72 and this morning when we were at the park it was only up to 66 and a little windy. It felt great! Finally fall weather! :c)

We were the only ones at the park but Nora had fun all the same. We went to a smaller park b/c the larger one in town called "Lion's Den" is not as easy to get into right now. The local Lion's Club has their carnival all set up in town (by the BIG park) and tonight is opening night. Tomorrow from 4-6pm is kiddy hours and I think David and I are planning on taking Nora. She didn't get to go to it last year - it rained the whole weekend.

If we go or not will depend on how David wants to spend his weekend. I think he will want to but I will let him decide. He leaves Monday for a business trip to Indianapolis, IN and will be gone thru Thursday. Then the day he gets home is leaving again for a Men's ACTS retreat with church. He won't be home until Sunday the 22nd.

As always before he leaves, I will tell him to take a good look at my hair......because I might very well have pulled it all out before he gets home! :c) LOL That is our little joke b/c a week without a "Daddy Break" for Nora can be pretty stressful on Mommy!

Hope everyone has a Happy Weekend! :c) ~Bonnie

10/11/1905 - Happy Birthday Momma Newt

Growing up I only had one living grandparent. My Daddy's mother - Nettie Mae Page was her maiden name before she married my grandfather Walter Louis Newton (who passed away when my Daddy was only 23)

All day I have been thinking of her and thought I would share some memories of her here on my blog. On this day, 101 years ago my grandmother was born.

"Momma Newt" is what everyone called her. The oldest of the 18 grandchildren gave her that name and for decades that is what she went by. Even church friends and people from our small town in Kentucky all called her "Momma Newt". :C)

When I came along, the youngest of the 18 grandchildren, Momma Newt was always so worried that she would die before I was old enough to remember her. She was 69 at the time I was born. I guess that is why she took to spoiling me pretty good ;) and even gave my mother this Sunbonnet Sue twin size quilt when I was born.



She had made it growing up long before the days of electricity. So she had to use candlelight at nighttime. The blocks are made using flower sacks and she told my mom that she made it when she was a girl. I am guessing she was 9-12 at the time? She wanted me to be the one to have it since I was the youngest grandchild - the one before me was already 16 when I was born.. So my mom took the precious gift and we kept the secret all of my life so that no one else in the family would know I had such a special treasure. It was one of 2 quilts that my mom rotated on my twin size bed when I was growing up. I use to love to get Momma Newt to come look at my room when she visited and she would smile and say how happy it made her to see it on my bed and that she made it and had it on her bed too when she was a little girl like me! :c) (the SBS's are in each direction so that when the quilt is on the bed they are not upside down on one side of the bed)

Lucky for both of us she lived to be nearly 90 years old and I grew up having her in my life with hundreds of wonderful memories! I only regret that she could have seen me get married, but she died 2 years before. I was engaged already though, so she did know David before she passed away. :)

I wish I had a photo of her to share with you but don't at this time. My favorite photo was taken at Christmas time when I was 18 years old - and I was sitting in her lap! I gasp now thinking that I sat on a 87 year old woman's lap but at the time it was what she wanted for the photo.

You see, she had this tradition - b/c there were 18 of us grandkids... she had a thing with the number 18. With 23 great grand kids coming up and more on the way - she decided that 18 would be our cut off year for Christmas gifts so that she could keep up with the younger ones. So for our last year to get a gift = or rather our special 18th Christmas we got a hand pieced quilt top made by Momma Newt.

She called this pattern Birds in flight, although it doesn't look like any Birds in flight pattern I've seen while googeling it and looking for more information.... I have yet to find out it's official name. Do you know what it's called?? The blocks are put together with 4 trapezoids and a center square sorta like a "Spool" block would be made.

Anyway, what ever it's called... Cheers to you Momma Newt - Happy Birthday! - I love you and am so grateful I had you as my grandmother! I cherish all the wonderful memories you gave us!!!

progress report of Leaf Season

I had hoped to finally be catching up with all of you by now... when it came time for the alternating blocks for "Leaf Season" but b/c of my PINK EYE over the weekend, I lost precious quilting time!! I can't believe how many of you are done with their tops! Boy you ladies are fast!! The tops I have seen are all so B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!

Here is what I have so far. Just 3 colors of leavs so far. :( I really wanted to be done with all of these leaves so I could join everyone for the speed piecing of the other type blocks! ....(((I think we should have started with those first)))....

Last night I was feeling better from my pink eye so I cut up some orange fabrics and these will be my next few leaves. Only 32 leaves total... that means I have only 14 left to go...

Oh and look what I found at 40% off to use as my backing fabric and possibly a boarder. I know I said I was gonna wait and shop for it after the top was done, but dh was with me and he liked it so much he talked me into going ahead and buying it now while the bolt still had enough. :) I just love him!

It's been over 20 years!

It's been over 20 years since the last time I had PINK EYE - I was in grade school and only remembering having it once. Well I got my second taste of it this past weekend. :( The weird thing is, I don't know exactly where it came from. It could be from 1 of 2 things:

1) Nora had eye junk in her eyes early in the week but no pinkness or swelling or watering so I wasn't too concerned at the time - just figured she had some allergies going on... the junk in her eye went away after a day.

2) As I posted earlier I host a noodle swap each month and the ones I swapped out last Friday were PINK!- it had to have been those pink noodles I was looking at b/c I do not know of anyone who could have gave me PINK EYE!!! Next time I do anything pink, I will have to wear eye protection! :c)

It started in the left eye but the right eye got the pink eye too although I was SO careful not to cross contaminate. it happened anyway - Sunday night. I am much better now. Yesterday they had pretty much stopped tearing although still sore and hurts to blink. Feels like slivers of glass in my eyes when I blink... but not nearly as itchy and I can go an hour or so without having to touch them which is good = meaning I can get back on the computer and get back to swapping the string squares. Neither eye is swollen or pink today thankfully, although still sore.

Just to be on the safe side I didn't not go to Story Time today with Nora. Instead my friend Heidi came and picked her up and took with her two boys. So yeah! I am HOME ALONE!!! WOO hoooo! What have I done with my time you ask...

First things first, as soon as they pulled out the drive, I came in and ran upstairs and I took a looooooong shower and even shaved "BOTH" of my legs at the same time!!!! :c) Since becoming a mom, on days when Nora is awake when I shower it's the "every-other-day shaving routine" for me. :c)

I got dressed then started a load of laundry then took some photos of my leaves and came to sit down here and make a post :) aaaaah... it feels so good to be back checking in with all of you.

Quilt Pink

OK, so this is a week late but I thought I would share that I sort of participated in the Quilt Pink project this year. I didn't make a whole top, but I helped make a block. After seeing Mary's Pink Quilt at her blog
it gives me inspriation for next year! Her churn dashes are ADORABLE - twisting & turning all over the quilt top! Take a look if you haven't seen it already. (I still do not know how to make a person's blog name appear as just their name as a hyper link to click on....???...)

Here's my Snails Tail Block. My first time ever to use paper templates! I love the bright pinks from Moda that they selected.

I did make a block but didn't get to participate last Saturday in sewing the blocks together. I hope I get to see the final quilt after the top is quilted before sending in to Quilt Pink. We each paid $5 for a block kit (pattern and fabric) and made the block and when we turned it in we got our $5 back.

What a smart marketing plan for the store... b/c it ended up when I took my block to turn it in before the deadline - instead of walking out with my $5, I came out with a bag of fabrics and they kept my $5 along with about $40 more of my own! LOL

Time for the Noodle Dance!

Nora is napping, so that means it is time for the Noodle Dance! I have been hosting the noodle swap from the HGTV forum since March of this year. Each month we have a different theme and the participation has been great!

These are the noodles we have swapped already:
Mar - Paisley Fabrics
Apr - Florals
May - Let's dance the Polka! Fabric with Polka Dots!
Jun - I'm proud to be an American! (Red, White & Blue)
Jul - The Heat is On ~ BRIGHTS! (this one was really fun!)
Aug - Autumn in the Air - fall colors
Sep - Pink

upcoming months:
Oct - Batiks - the largest participation last year
Nov - Christmas Fabrics - small scale prints only!
Dec - Gimmie Some Bling-Bling! - Fabrics with sparkle, metalic, or shimmery in them.

The colors/themes are determined by a poll that i put up so that everyone can vote - I use their requests as the choices adn the ones with the most votes win ;) Seems to be working great this year. Who knows what is in store for 2007 but this is a very fun swap and I have several regulars, with a few that come and go - playing on ly on the months they want. It works out great for everyone.

In months past I have tried to remember to get a photo of all the variety before I begin swapping them out but most times I forget and only end up with a picture of the noodles I get to keep.

However this time, I did good - before swapping, I was smart and picked up "one of everything" off the top of each stack on the bed and took to the sewing room so that I could take a photo of them.

I also posted these photo along with closeups to the participants on the HGTV board - I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the but if they begin posting their requests! I told them that this was not a noodle "menu" to order from, just a sneak peak while they wait.

I plan to get them all swapped tonight....if I am lucky I will take them to the Post Office tomorrow - if not they will mail out on Monday.

Once these are all bagged up, I can clear the bed and begin with my HUGE SWAP - the string squares! There are over 2000 of them!!!

Fun Friday

Firday's are my fun time in the sewing room. Usually I work on making string blocks for a one day quilt and ever since this past spring when everyone on the HGTV board decided to do a swap (which I am hosting) I have been busy nearly every Friday sewing on the blocks for that swap. The due date was 10/01 and as of yesterday ALL packages are RECEIVED! :c) Now I can begin the swapping process - more pictures to be posted soon of the groups.

Here's just some of my progress over the past few weeks. It is so fun to finally square them up, like giving a kid their first haricut - they look so all grown up! :c)

In the background you will see my noodles for September the theme was Pink so that when everyone receives them back in October it will go along with Breast Cancer Awarness month. I always wait to see how many total sets of noodles there will be and then cut enough of mine so that I get one of each from the swap. This time, we had a total of 68 sets swapped with only 3 or 4 repeats. The noodles will be ready to mail on Monday to everyone who participated.

ok, and now to begin a new "Fun Friday" tradition of my own here on my blog. I saw this weblink a while back and did a survey to find out just how much I am worth....and the result is.....

I am worth $1,990,410 on HumanForSale.com
..not that I would ever sell any part of my body... but fun to take the survey. How much are you worth do you think?

Happy Weekend Everyone!

An Hour A Day Project

The whole reason I started my blog was so I could participate and post along with everyone in Judy L's "an Hour A Day Project." And, I have been doing the sewing each day, just not posting anything yet b/c I didn't think I had made much progress to report. Most days even, I have spent more than an hour!!....although from my photos, it won't look like it.

Every day I check Judy L's blog to find out what our directions are and then read all the comments to see who's reporting progress... not too many responses yet I noticed. I am following: Ausie Quilter, Bonnie, who is way ahead, DubiQuilts, Getting Started, & Quilt Pixie. (Are there any others I have yet to find that are doing Leaf Season??? - If so please comment so I can take a peek :c) )

Today when I checked in, I noticed taht Judy asked How many of us are doing the project - so I guess I better stand up and be counted and give my progress report :c)

Monday I spent the day cutting. It appears to me that everyone else already got a head start before Monday. Several had already made some blocks and at least everyone had their most of or all of their cutting done! So I started off feeling behind. However, trying to stay positive, I reminded myself - this is not a race. :c)

Tuesday I started sewing some, I am more of a - make the whole block as you go type. I got stuck at the stem stage but later on found directions at www.quilterscatche.com for the stem part. I feel that I am such a slow poke at this but I will get my top done, just you wait! When we get to those blocks that are all the same, my needle will be smokin baby!

Because my plan is to use a mixture of red fabricss in my leafs, and a mixture of yellows fabrics.. and each color, I wan't able to just make "X" number of HST's because all my red leafs won't be using the same. Does that make sense? Here are the red blocks I completed. They are each unique and different from each other which I love.


Not knowing on how many of each color leaf blocks to make I stopped at 7 and moved on to my yellow fabrics. Yesterday and Last night I spent my time cutting and did get all the yellow HST's done and 4 blocks are laid out.

I can tell from Judy's pic she used several colors - light green, dark green, light purple, dark purple, golden yellow, orangy red, dark red... I just wonder how many of each color group she used so that I could have a better idea of how many of each leaf color to make. I will post a comment on her board and ask her so that she can advise me and also to let her know that I am one of the participants ;c)

Our Special Pet

In honor of St. Francis, I will share a few photos of my special pet. Jackson is our 7 year old Miniature Schnauzer, aka "first child." Soon after we were married we admired an aunt's schnauzer and had wanted to get one of our own. However, we waited until we were out of an apartment before getting a dog. We were living in Augusta, GA at the time, and drove over to a small town in South Carolina to go look at a litter of all girl puppies that were about 8 weeks old. Getting a dog would be David's Birthday gift. Little did we know when we drove up, that the smallest of the "big dogs" we saw running around in the grass would "Pick us" to go home with that day. He was just over 3 months old and the runt of his litter with a minor medical problem. No one had wanted him.
While we looked at the tiny babies, he kept nudging at our arms begging for attention. He looked so handsome too already being given his first haircut.... it was too hard to resist. :c) It wasn't long until we were considering him instead of the girl puppy we had gone to buy. The breeder let us have him at half price b/c he would need surgery (undescended testical and hernia removed.) On the way home we decided to call him "Jackson" b/c that is where we got him from - Jackson, SC! Jackson has been a wonderful dog to have and has brought us much joy and companionship. We love him and he is an important part of our family. Growing up I had many dogs thru the years, however b/c we lived on a farm along a busy highway we were never able to keep a dog very long at a time. Jackson is the most special pet I have ever had and I hope he is around for a very long time.
He has been great with our daughter and is the BEST "Big Brother Dog" in the whole world. Nora loves Jackson very much and often I hear her talking about him after she wakes up from her naps. I just wonder if she is dreaming of him. :c) Also just recently she has began playing with him like we do with her with the blanket on the sofa. She puts it over him and says, "Where's Jack-In?" and then pulls it back and says "Peek-a-boo, Jack-in!" It is SO CUTE!
Below is one of my favorite pics of Jackson. He was in the backseat of the car one afternoon with the sun coming in the sunroof just on him. He looks rather ragged b/c he had been sticking his head out the window earlier... but doesn't he look so serious.

Here's a prayer that you can bless your own pet with today:

Blessed are you, Lord God,
maker of all living creatures.
On the fifth and sixth days of creation,
you called forth fish in the sea,
birds in the air and animals on the land.
You inspired St. Francis to call all animals
his brothers and sisters.
We ask you to bless this animal.
By the power of your love,
enable it to live according to your plan.
May we always praise you
for all your beauty in creation.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.

Today is a Feast Day

St. Francis of Assisi, lover of all creation, champion of justice, patron saint of animals and the environment, founded the Franciscan Order. His feast day is today October 4th.


Peace Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life

adding photos

ok, well I guess they are not going to appear. That is odd. I hit the photo icon and selected the photos just like I have done before... and waited for them to load - which they did successufly... but never did they show up in my post or preview. Does it matter if I am in Html mode or compose mode? Does one work better than the other? What is the differece?

I even triend going back and editing the post to add them in but it didn't work. So maybe if I start a new post I will have better luck??? We'll see...

Here is the "Opposites Attract" mystery I did last fall. Nora was 17 months old in this photo and really into her blocks at the time. She had them in her hands every waking hour! In the bed, at the table, in the car & in the bathtub. Funny :c)



ok, I can tell this time it is going to work b/c after it loaded and I hit done there was this code appear in my message. :) yeah!

Now here is a photo of my background fabric I bought yesterday with some of the leaf fabric choices for Judy L's Leaf Seasons project. The background is a tone on tone with yellow and even hints of pink and orange in it. I hope it shows up where you can see it good.



I even spent some time tonight cleaning up the sewing area in the dining room to get ready for this new project. This afternoon I finished up my last 3 sets of string squares for the swap (no photo). The due date is today so after I receive the last of the packages that are on the way this coming week, I will get busy swapping them out. I'm also waiting on 2 sets of my monthly noodles before I can begin swapping. I will post photos of that later ;)

Finally something quilty to post

Last fall I participated in my first ever "mystery quilt". A mystery quilt is where you don't know what the finished quilt is going to look like and you get segments of directions and as you complete them, then you get the next set. My first one was done in about 6 hours from an online forum hosted by Planet Patchwork Merry Mayhem One-Day Mystery Quilt, November 27, 2005.

Although the experience was fun, I was not happy with the final quilt that I made. It is so ugly! Who knows if it will ever be quilted? Thankfully, I used stash that I inherited from my mom so no money was wasted...and I do really like the navy fabric and the gold and just laying them out they looked great together but the top had too much of the cream and I if I had seen a photo of the quilt before hand, I would not have chosen these fabrics for this pattern. That's the risk you take with mysteries. For me I rather see it first.

Opposites Attract was my first, last and only mystery quilt to do from www.planetpatchwork.com However, there is a yahoo group I joined that does mystery quilts and they are great!!! The group is called "A Pocket Full of Mysteries". Dorothy Young is an experienced Mystery Quilt designer. She uses this forum to host Mystery Quilts several times each year. Her directions are FANTASTIC! She even gives you specific tips for selecting your fabrics…. suggesting which to make your large scale or small scale prints and where to have your focus, light or dark. Before her weekend mystery begins members of the group can post photos of their fabric samples. Dorothy is very helpful for anyone wanting advice on their choices.

Because all of her mystery quilt weekends have fallen around the holidays - Christmas, New Year's, Labor Day - because of traveling, I have not had the pleasure of participating but if I ever do another Mystery - it will be one of Dorothy’s!! :c)

Lucky for me, Judy L's "an hour a day project" is sort of like a mystery quilt, only she shows the quilt from the get-go!!! :c) and that is perfect for me b/c I love to know the surprise ahead of time! I loved her first project!!! What a beautiful Churn Dash Quilt! I followed along each day reading - (not sewing) and loved clicking on everyone else's blogs to see their progress too. I saved the pattern information and want to make it one day.

So when she mentioned she would host another "an hour a day project" and then showed a pic of Leaf Season I started pulling autumn colors form my stash so that this time around - I can play along too!!! Yeah! I am no longer gonna be a wannabe, I am going to do it too!

Saturday I drove to Hancock’s in Pt. Arthur to look for fabric to use for the background and sashings since I don't have very many large pieces of yardage in my stash. After a good while of searching, I found the perfect background. Surprisingly I had walked past it at least a dozen times before giving it a consideration. Hummm I thought.. not really my style but... what if...? and immediately upon unfolding about a yard to drape over the other bolts of the leaf colors - I knew it was the perfect BKGD to use! :c) I also bought some brown fabric to use like in Judy's and both of these fabrics were 30% off = BONUS!! I love it when that happens b/c usually I am not looking at price just the fabric and after you fall in love with it price doesn't seem to matter anymore.

Here is a photo of the background with a few of my autumn leaf selections.

On my way up to the checkout from the cutting table I noticed all of their fall fabrics were 40% off.... I hope they are still on sale when it comes time for a backing fabric as I saw 1 or 2 good choices. If not, I am sure I can find a coupon on line to use when the time comes. ;c)