Guess what I've been doing lately?

Icing my knee. Above is what it looked like Friday. Not nearly as bad as the day before, but still swollen and very sore. When the twins went down for nap time, I set up camp on the sofa... and thankfully each day it's getting better! Thanks for all of your T's & P's my friends! ;)

And to leave you with something quilty - do you remember when I stared out on these a couple months ago...? well I've not worked on them as much as I should have had... but..

I did talk Nora into helping mommy and she picked up off the "design floor" these I-Spy Blocks that I have made so far. I've got about 50 blocks made so far.. I need another 50 for this quilt and then 100 more for the other. Eeek it's almost May which means it's almost June! I'm thinking these Birthday quilts will turn into Christmas quilts...

Well I have a lot of cleaning up to do in the dining/sewing room - I need to clear off the table b/c we had outside border BINGO winners today - so I'll need to spread out the Jackpot Stash so I can shop for their winnings... I let them choose what color/style they like and love or need for a project and then I take photos and let them take their pick.

More photos next week! ;)

Love from Texas!

4-patch progress

Well, I've been itching to host scrappy 4-patch blocks again - they are so easy to make and frequently used in Bonnie Hunter's patterns... that I just feel the need to have another swap so I can build up a variety of 4-patches.

And since I have at least 5 drawers of "noodles" (2.5" strips) in my "Stash User System" that's what I used... you know - use up what you have ;)

I paired up darks with lights. I'll trim them to size later..

It didn't take long to sew them into dark/light pairs and then sub-cut at 2" each... Not everyone pins, but I do... that didn't really take long either... I didn't have time to do the finger press at that time, so I tossed them into this basket and took them with me in the van and did them while waiting on Nora in the school carpool line. ;)

How to sew and press 4patches so that there is very little bulk in the center!
http://video.about.com/quiltin...work-Quilt-Seams.htm

Hummm.. these rectangular patches look interesting don't they? but we need to size them up. It's easy peasy - just line the ruler up to measure 1.75" from the CENTER of the patch... and slice, rotate, slice, rotate, slice... all 4 sides.

again -I used noodles b/c I have TONS of them.. but you can just simply cut your strips at 2" and then not have any trimming ;) I hope this helps you see the variety of colors I used. I think I got around 12-15 of the same 4-patches... so I'm thinking of making sets in 10's for our swap and then you have a few extras to either keep and use or you could throw into another mix/match set to send in for swapping.

Just please only cut one strip of each your fabrics... do not cut 10 of a dark and 10 of a light (same 2 fabrics) and then use that - no. We want variety! ;)

So what's next... I paired up blue/white nickels and sewed into HSTs and cut apart... just need to make a date with that steamy guy in the background and get some homework done for my "My Blue Heaven" blocks for Crazy'boutquilts.

Stay tuned!

Love from Texas!

Leaders/Enders what are they good for?

Well I can not believe it!!! See, while trying to go back thru my blog to add a link to when I got my copy of Bonnie Hunter's "Adventures with Leaders & Enders" book for Valentine's Day - I discovered that I never posted about it! WHAAAAT? How did that not happen??

Oh, I know... that's b/c my Dad and Clara were here visiting with us ... and there were more important things to take photos of ;) You know like the "Tic-Tac-Toe" competition! :P

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Anyway, a while back, I hosted a swap for scrappy 4-patches when I was working on Bonnie's "Christmas Lights" mystery pattern published in Quiltmaker Magazine last summer. Perhaps you will recall - that was also around the same time we were having some repair work done in the dining room and I had to swap units on my dining room table while parked in the middle of the computer room... :P

Well I've been thinking of hosting again... what's not to love about this quilt that I made using all of those swapped scrappies! (Christmas Lights)

Well, since I've got my brain to thinking about hosting again... I'm trying to tell myself that it's not really a "swap" swap... but that these are just UNITS that I need to have on hand so that I can begin some of the patterns on my wish list...

I've already pulled some dark and light strips....

I also thought I should do a little investigating around QUILTVILLE.COM and make a list of all the patterns that use scrappy 4-patch blocks to share with my swappers who get signed up for this. Last time when I swapped, it was my smallest ever swap that I've ever hosted - perhaps b/c at the time readers thought the units were only for making the mystery at that time...

and so I wanted to show that these units are soooo versatile and can be used for many patters - here is the list I came up with! ;) I'll share here with all of you too!

• Mystery Pattern – Orange Crush uses (150) scrappy 4-patches
  
• Mystery Pattern – Old Tobacco Road uses (182) scrappy 4-patches
• Bricks & Stepping stones uses (112) B/W 4-patches
• Cathedral Stars uses (305) jewel toned 4-patches
• 4 Patch Furrows uses (288) non scrappy 4-patches
• Jared Takes A Wife uses 120 green/light 4-patches
• 16 Patch & Pinwheels uses (340) scrappy 4-patches

I'd really like to host this type of swap on the quiltvilleswappers yahoo group but over there they seem to have their exclusive hostesses and oddly they swap mostly just fabrics rather than blocks or units. humph.

Nevertheless - I have a great group of swapping friends over at the HGTV Quilter's board who I have had great experiences with the past 5 years... so that will suit me just fine ;) and sometimes I get contacted by blog readers who want to participate in either my swaps or bingo game - so I'll go ahead and include the link to where I'm taking signups for this Scrappy 4-patch swap over at the HGTV Boards ;)

Hope you will join us! Guess I better get back to my strips!

Love from Texas!

Are you a dreamer?? Well perhaps dreams really do come true!

One of my most favorite blogs is JudyL's where almost daily she shares what it is she's currently working on. But she shares more than just digital photos... she provides graphs and photos that she creates using her computer software called EQ (aka Electronic Quilt) It's really cool!

Earlier this month, Judy was recently featured over at the EQ blog as a poster sharing tips on how she goes about crating a quilt with their software. Click the quote below to take you to her post over there to see the project she shared. ;)

Judy has just started a new series of illustrated “how EQ6 designs developed” blog posts full of great design ideas.

Well Sunday night as I sat down with my laptop after the kids were to bed, the first blog I visited was JudyL's. There I read where she had just shared on her blog about the newest edition of EQ7 will soon be released....and she provided a link to where she has it for sale (10% off) that had even more details of what this newer version can do.

I've always dreamed of what it might be like to have such a program - to create and make my own quilt patterns and designs - to play with colors and patterns ect... no more graph paper....but never have I ever thought I could justify such a cost as a stay at home mom who quilting is just a hobby...

But because it sounded so great, I just had to share the news with David. Did you know that the latest version 7 will allow you to take digital photos of your own fabric at home and use in your EQ project!!! - ....so I patiently waited for the next TV commercial.... and read the announcement to him from JudyL's blog.

His reply was sort and sweet. Two words - HOW MUCH? and I told him... he said, "That's not as bad as I thought."

Hummm what does that mean?? He didn't say buy it - or ask how bad do I really want it... guess I'll just have to dream on right?

Mother's Day is coming up soon, but I won't hold my breath on that one. In the past I've been known to cut out photos from magazines, or sales adds and put 3-4 on taped to the bathroom mirror so he'll see and get some hints and he never has followed thru on that - so I really don't think mentioning it out loud will help him remember either. :P

Oh well. It is fun to dream right ;)

However CLICK HERE and take a look at what I read about today!!!

Someone's Dreams really ARE gonna come TRUE!

There's going to be a drawing - and 10 lucky people are gonna get to host a give-away on their blogs and both them and their blog-give-away winners will each get a copy of the Latest and Greatest EQ7 Software!!!

10 winners will be randomly chosen on May 3rd. If you are chosen, you then determine a contest and submit your contest winner’s contact information to sarahshriver@electricquilt.com. We will ship your EQ7 prize directly to your winner.

Looks like I better get to thinking about what kind of blog-give-away I'm gonna be hosting soon - becasue I am just sure they are gonna draw my name!!! ;)

Love from Texas!

A Few Things That I love

I love these shoes in the window and the little feet they fit.

I love that just one medium sized wash load and all of Nora's School uniforms are clean for the week ;)

I ♥ school uniforms!

I love Cheesy Chicken Crescent and Aunt Nell's Garden Green Beans for supper.

I love it b/c it's a guaranteed meal that I know Nora will eat ALL of! ;) and I love doing our made up "Happy Dance" song after supper.

I love helping out long distance friends by the simple task of making just one quilt block to be used to make that person a quilt.

I love hearing Nora tell me all about their field trip to the botanical garden and how excited she got when she talked about the BIG Bee Hive.

Oh and I love how finding a leftover "sucker from the bank" and giving it to her for no reason, can totally make me The World's Bestest Mommy. ;)

I love that so many friends and family have shared hand-me-down clothes and shoes for my kids and I love that I can load them up and take them to other friends to share the BLESSINGS!

and speaking of Blessings... I love that all of my children know how to pray and do so freely anytime they feel the need. My prayer for each of them is to continuously grow closer to their Father and to have an ever growing desire to honor, obey and glorify Him as they look for their calling on what it is He wants for them in their lives.

I love watching the little ones explore new things. Like roller skating.

OH and I love these curls!

and I la,la,love it when David arrives home before dark!!!

and one last photo to share with you... I love that Nora now reads to us each night ;)

Love from Texas!

How did I not know about this?

but apparently Ryan over at "I'm Just A Guy Who Quilts" has been hosting a big giveaway each week this month - but at least I got in at a good time.... click on over to check it out!

Oh and if I could pick my prize I'd choose any of the fabrics from this collection b/c my reproduction collections is nothing but scraps at this point and there is no where local to buy 1930's fabrics.

of course something that I'd love to win as much as the fabric would be this book:

Surly you've seen all the fabulous Schnibbles Quilts around blogland this year! If given a simple gift certificate, I have to confess, I think I'd spend it on the book rather than the fabric ;).... that is IF I won the giveaway. Aaah *sigh* it sure is fun to dream isn't it? ;)


Love from Texas!